Stoke City host 2nd place Middlesbrough for a game that will for sure be important in the early doors promotion race. Stoke City have had a bright opening to the season, having not tasted defeat since their 4-1 struggle against Wolves in late August. The Potters are coming off the back of three consecutive 2-1 victories. Talovierov will miss this tussle with a suspension after picking up a red card against Bolton. In that game, Ingelsson, Ampah and Cresswell all missed out, with their availability for Tuesday up in the air. In the promotion race, Stoke sit 4 points off of 1st place, the gap became tighter this past weekend after West Ham fell out due to their 1-1 draw with QPR. Boro's last league defeat fell against Blackburn on Aug 22. However in all competitions, they exited the EFL Cup in early September to C Palace 3-0. Middlesbrough collected their second clean sheet in the Championship against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. From the game with Wolves, only Alfie Jones was missing, besides Jones it's a clean bill for Boro. If results go their way, Middlesbrough could overtake Swansea this midweek, although it could see them fall as low as fourth depending on the West Ham vs Lincoln result. Stoke have not defeated Boro in the Championship since March 2024. In three of their last five matchups in all competitions, a clean sheet has occurred.