Pick of the stats: Stoke City v Hull City

Stoke City will look to maintain their position in the automatic promotion spots as they host a bruised but promotion-contending Hull City on Saturday (12:30 GMT).

The Potters currently sit in second place after a 3-0 victory over Charlton ended a two-match losing streak.

But the Tigers will have plenty of motivation for a win of their own after two straight losses puts them outside the top 10 but still just two points adrift of the top six.

• The home side has failed to win any of the last seven league meetings between Stoke City and Hull City (D1 L6), since the Potters won 2-0 in September 2021.

• Hull City have won their last two away league games against Stoke, as many as they had in their previous 18 visits to the Potters (D7 L9).

• Stoke have won five of their last eight league games (L3), one more win than their previous 12 matches in the Championship (W4 D4 L4).

• Hull have lost three of their last four league games (W1), as many as in their opening 13 games of the 2025-26 season (W6 D4 L3).

• Since the start of 2021-22, Stoke's Sorba Thomas has both the most assists (34) and chances created (323) in the Championship, while last time out against Charlton Athletic was the second time in a Football League game he recorded three goal involvements (2 goals, 1 assist) after August 2021 v Reading.