And They Laugh No More

40 points gained after Saturday's victory - 18 points left to play for

Although the victory against Aston Villa certainly didn't leave Stoke City supporters with a nervous twitch at the bottom half of the table, hitting the 40 point mark with a victory against Hull City certainly was the signal for everyone connected to the club to have a collected sigh of relief. Whilst relegation had not been a concern for a quite a few weeks, hitting 40 points is not only a sign of safety, but it holds the promise of looking up for the remainder of the season rather than down. Heading into the game against Hull City, a victory would cement Stoke's position inside the top 10, whilst also giving the club a six point buffer against the bottom half of the table. A win would also force Newcastle United and/or Southampton to look over their shoulders in the closing weeks of the season. These motivations did not appear apparent during a tepid first half that was uninspiring for the home side, where Hull, despite not showing any dominance, had the clearer opportunities to take the lead. Games such as this, where the balance of the match is easily tipped, are usually decided by a mistake or a moment of magic, and arguably there was a bit of both of these elements as Stoke took the lead. Ahmed El Ahmady trying to play his way out of trouble sent a cross-field pass straight into the path of Peter Odemwingie who, running at the Hull defence, cut inside onto his left foot and scored a goal for Stoke from outside the penalty area, again, a type of goal that has been a rarity in recent years for the Potters.

Peter Odemwingie, the clinical finisher Stoke have been wanting

Whilst Stoke controlled the game once they had taken the lead, the only chance of note fell to John Guidetti after good work again by Peter Odemwingie, who after jinking his way into the Hull penalty area, delayed passing the ball of to Guidetti, overhitting his cross when he eventually released the ball. This sort of bad luck seems to have summed up John Guidetti's loan stay at Stoke and you would hope that in the last six games he would be given a few more minutes on the pitch to try and justify why he was brought to the club. Arguably his most important action as a Stoke player has been winning the penalty to gain a point at Norwich, yet if he had been given more time on the pitch, perhaps due to an injury or drop in form with Peter Crouch, he may have shown more. His loan has been a disappointment for Guidetti undoubtedly, but for Stoke and Mark Hughes, it has arguably brought the best out of Crouch, something that cannot be described as a bad thing.

Away from the Brit - Baying for Blood:

On the deck, but not knocked out, yet

It is true that there is never a good time to play a top team, but coming into the game off back-to-back defeats to Crystal Palace and Paris St Germain will not have created a cool and calm atmosphere at Stamford Bridge. For Stoke supporters, they will be wondering which Chelsea will turn up to play in the late Saturday night kick-off against their team: the one that beat Manchester City convincingly only several weeks ago, or the one that has capitulated under the pressure of a title challenge? Jose Mourinho has blamed his forward line in the last two games for not creating enough chances to compensate for defensive lapses, yet you wonder how much he can blame his forwards. Here I do not refer to Torres, Ba and Eto'o who have only 15 league goals between them (compared to former Chelsea striker Daniel Sturridge who currently has 20 goals on his own), but rather look at those who sit behind the main striker. Eden Hazard had been tipped only weeks ago to be up for the player of the year award, yet could he really justify that tag? His last four league goals have been from the penalty spot, whilst his last from open play was against Newcastle in February. Oscar, whilst scoring two against Arsenal two weeks ago, is far from a regular scorer, where he only scored 12 times in 64 appearances for Chelsea last season, though he has improved this season to have only scored one less in 21 fewer appearances. Whilst this is an improvement for the Brazilian, you would expect a number 10 to score more goals considering the area of the pitch they play in.The final man on the attacking trio tends to be rotated between Andre Schurrle and Willian, who are on 7 and 2 goals respectively. Willian tends to be picked for his work-rate over Schurrle who has the higher goal count, yet this may be the reason why Mourinho played the two over Torres or Ba against PSG on Wednesday night. After seeing Bayern Munich play without a recognised striker for the first 60 minutes of their game against Manchester United, it is a common tactic in European football now, so allowing Schurrle and Hazard to rotate up front was a feasible option. Despite going a goal down, the tactic appeared to be working when Chelsea earned a penalty and got back into the game, being unlucky not to take the lead when Hazard's first time volley only hit the post. Once PSG went a goal up in the second half, Mourinho felt compelled to revert back to the system he prefers with a number 9 at the tip of the team. This, combined with Zlatan Ibrahimovic's substitution which brought Lucas Moura into play created a static shape to Chelsea's play, one that proved costly come Javier Pastore and PSG's third goal of the night. If Mourinho had stuck to his first game plan, Chelsea could have gotten back into the game, yet by making the change, Chelsea lacked threat in the final third, unable to create or capitalise on opportunities.

Nemanja Matic challenging Stephen Ireland

It would be a surprise to see Chelsea go into this game without a recognised striker up front, so it appears to be a toss-up between whether Demba Ba or Fernando Torres starts against Stoke. If you are a betting person, you'd suspect that Ba would get the nod ahead of Torres as long as Eto'o remains out injured, with Ba offering a more physical presence up front compared to Torres. This should be comfortable enough for Ryan Shawcross and Marc Wilson to cope with, yet they have conceded goals to Ba in the past so there should be no complacency that this is a striker that always seems to up his game when Stoke are lining up. For the purposes of this game, it would not be a surprise to see Stoke revert to the line-up that won away at Aston Villa, with Wilson Palacios returning to the side to solid up the midfield, offering a two man shield with Glenn Whelan for the defence. Considering Oscar's plaudits are for his ability to find space and perform the playmaking capacity of an advanced midfielder, stacking up players in the middle of the field would narrow the play and force Eden Hazard and one of Willian or Andre Schurrle to stay wide to try and provide some width for their team. If they come inside, then Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta will be expected to push forward to provide this width, thus requiring both of Stoke's wingers to work as hard defensively as they will going forward. If Chelsea's back-line looks susceptible, it is through pace, which is where Peter Odemwingie should come to the fore. If he can lurk around John Terry, then he should have the beating of the Chelsea captain. If Odemwingie fails to get into the game this way though, Marko Arnautovic will have to win his battle with Ivanovic on the other side of the pitch as it will be tricky for Stoke's midfield to push forward in support in a game like this. Avoiding a loss and maintaining current form should be the aim of Stoke's players, as results may not be the priority any more (as far as survival goes at least), but to become the Pride of the Midlands and to have more points than in any previous Premier League season, a loss would be detrimental to achieving these targets.

Champions League Thoughts:

Gareth Bale vs Borussia Dortmund scoring the opening goal

If there was one surprise scoreline in the Champions League, I'd look away from Old Trafford and venture towards the Bernabeu Stadium. Whilst the result seemed fairly certain prior to kick-off, with Dortmund missing key players and Madrid at full strength, this game showed Europe why Real should be considered the team to beat this year, if anyone had a doubt. For all the plaudits Bayern have received this season, they could not beat an under-achieving Manchester United away from home, whilst Barcelona only managed to salvage a draw in their away trip to Atletico Madrid. I expected a similar result here with Dortmund scoring, but Madrid going on to win, mainly due to Madrid's inconsistent defence. From Dortmund I expected a solid defence but a plethora of goal-scoring chances, some of which wouldn't be taken. So for me, this was the surprise result as I did not expect it to be so easy, or at least appear that way for Real Madrid.

A header that Mama Sidibe would be proud of

At Old Trafford I believed that Manchester United would not concede, despite their recent results against the top teams in the Premier League. Whilst they did concede, they were more solid, sacrificing possession on the ball for hard work off the ball. This was a David Moyes team, set up to destroy rather than create, and despite conceding an away goal, his tactics worked for the most part as Bayern rarely threatened. Putting this result into perspective, there is no surprise to still see Bayern as favourites for the tie as they have the away goal, have won their domestic league and are the better team. Being destructive will not be enough to get a goal at the Allianz Arena, but it gives Manchester United fans hope that perhaps this season has merely been a blimp, and that after months of attempted training sessions, David Moyes has finally gotten his players to play the way he wants.

Quick Snippet - Oh Lord Abdoulaye!

Abdoulaye Diagne-Faye: A warrior of a defender

If there was one player I wish had been selected last weekend when Hull travelled to the Britannia Stadium, it was Abdoulaye Faye. Whilst in the twilight of his career now, he was the rock of our defence as Ryan Shawcross just began to blossom. I may be one of a few to say it, but if Abdoulaye was offered the opportunity to return to Stoke as a player, even now, I would still take him as even if he only played one game a season, he'd have the same impact as Ledley King did for Tottenham, adding a touch of class to whatever game he appeared in. As it appears this will not be the case, I believe the mural adorning the Britannia Stadium is a fitting tribute to a player who not only kept Stoke City up during his first two seasons at the club, but typified what we were, and to an extent still are: fighters.