THE NUMBERS BEHIND STOKE’S DECLINE...

20 MARK HUGHES’ gamble with team selection ended predictably enough and the upshot is that Stoke’s haul of 20 points after 21 games is their worst at this stage of a Premier League season.

3 Hughes, with more than one eye on a New Year’s Day showdown with Newcastle, left out four first-teamers and fielded teenagers Tom Edwards and Josh Tymon in a rickety back four, so a third clean sheet of the season was never really likely.

1 In Europe’s big five leagues, only Serie A backmarkers Benevento have kept fewer clean sheets than Stoke. Benevento have managed just one.

46 Stoke boast the worst defensive record in the top flight with 46 goals shipped, eight more than next-worst West Ham.

9 They’ll be pleased to see the back of Chelsea — their aggregate scoreline against the champions this season is 0-9 — and they’ve also been hit for five by Spurs and seven by Manchester City.