Stoke v Cardiff. Preview

Last updated : 08 January 2011 By BBC Sport

• Stoke are one of 12 Premier League clubs who will have to overcome Championship opposition to reach the fourth round.

Gulf in class

• Cardiff are just 12 spots lower than Stoke in the league standings.

Head-to-head

• These clubs last met when they were in the Championship together in 2007/08, and Stoke did the double.

• Cardiff's last victory over the Potters was 3-0 in February 2006 on their own turf, five months after registering a similar result at the Britannia Stadium.

FA Cup records and best performances

• Stoke hold a 100% record over the Bluebirds in the FA Cup.

• They won in the third round in January 1968, and in the fourth round in 1987; both home ties for the Potters.

The clubs

STOKE CITY

Current form

• Won two of the last seven.

• Scored or conceded two goals in each of the last four games.

FA Cup form

• Last year's quarter-finalists, were eliminated in the third round in each of the previous two seasons.

• The three times semi-finalists were last dismissed by a lower division club in the third round in January 2009, when Hartlepool eclipsed them 2-0 at Victoria Park.

CARDIFF CITY

Current form

• Won two of the last four, after a four-match winless sequence.

• Lost their last four on the road, since a 4-2 triumph at Scunthorpe on 13 November.

FA Cup form

• Been knocked out by the eventual winners in two of the last three seasons.

• Middlesbrough were the last Premier League club they ousted, winning the 2008 quarter-final 2-0 at the Riverside.

• That was also the last time they won an FA Cup tie in conventional play on the ground of the opponent.

• The first goal let in, will be the 300th they've conceded in FA Cup history.

Replay date

Tuesday, 18 January 2011 (Kick off: 1945 GMT)

Match officials

Referee: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)

Assistant referees: Andy Newbold and Seb Stockbridge

Fourth official: Paul Tierney

Source: BBC Sport

Source: BBC Sport