Fan’s view: Stoke

Stoke City go into Saturday’s encounter sweating on the fitness of number one goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen. The Dane sat out his country’ two fixtures in the international break. Former Everton shot stopper Steve Simonsen is waiting in the wings in case Sorensen fails to pass a fitness test.

New signing from Reading, Ibrahima Sonko is likely to make his debut, while Danny Higginbotham will make his second bow following his return from Sunderland. Captain Andy Griffin will continue at right back, while Abdoulaye Faye will be hoping to continue his promosing start in a Stoke shirt.

The suspension of Amdy Faye will lead to a reshuffle in midfield, with Rory Delap taking up his preferred position in the centre, partnering former Everton target Seyi Olofinjana. Set piece specialist Liam Lawrence will line up on the right wing, with £2 million deadline day signing Michael Tonge likely to start on the left side.

Assuming Ricardo Fuller returns from South America in one piece, he will partner record signing Dave Kitson upfront.

Everton are suffering an injury crisis, with Louis Saha, Lars Jacobsen, Leon Osman, Tim Cahill and Tony Hibbert all set to miss out.

However, they will still be able to put out a strong line up. Stoke promotion hero Carlo Nash will have to settle for a place on the bench following his arrival from Wigan, with Tim Howard keeping the gloves. A defensive back four of Phil Neville, Jolean Lescott, Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka has plenty of Premier League experience, and will be a good match up for Stoke’s strikeforce.

In midfield, £15 million signing Marouane Fellaini will become the most expensive player to play a league match against Stoke, and will be assisted by the mecurial talents of Mikel Arteta.

Upfront, Nigerian Yakubu will bear most of the pressure as he looks to build on a promising start to his personal season.

With one win a piece, this is an evenly matched fixture and Stoke, on the back of an historic victory in their previous home fixture will be hoping to build on that momentum.

Prediction: Stoke City 1-0 Everton (Liam Lawrence)