The Blues are three points better off than their opponents but know that a defeat will undo all of the good work last week after our first win in ten league games. However, if we could claim victory at the Brit then that would be a huge step away from the drop zone and everyone would be confident that Pompey will survive.
The Potters have plenty of familiar faces in the squad as Andy Griffin, Danny Higginbotham, Ricardo Fuller, Vincent Pericard, Salif Diao, Amdy Faye, James Beattie, Henri Camara and Rory Delap have either featured for Pompey or Southampton in previous years.
The good news from our point of view is that ex-Pompey boss Tony Pulis will be without Fuller through injury and Delap through suspension so the long throw tactic isn't available to him.
Matthew Etherington is also banned but Henri Camara is expected to make his debut alongside the man all Pompey fans love to hate and serial pie lover James Beattie who will be dying to score against us.
Paul Hart has no new injury concerns with Hermann Hreidarsson expected to recover from the flu in time to play so the caretaker boss should name an unchanged team.
Stoke have already taken the scalps of Aston Villa and Arsenal at home this season so there can be no underestimating how strong they'll be. On the other hand we have a team who can hold their own in a battle and I expect Sean Davis and Angelos Basinas to be making more tackles than usual tomorrow.
If we can win the physical battle and the defence can defend the long balls and set-pieces properly then I believe we can win as there is no doubt that we've got a better quality side.
It's about time Peter Crouch started scoring again though whilst it would be a good time for Jermaine Pennant to open his account too as we can't rely on Johnson and Hermann to score in every game!
It's not going to be pretty but the result could be the most important of the season for both clubs. Unless it's a draw of course...
Predicted Starting Line-Ups
Stoke
GK: Thomas SORENSON
RB: Andy GRIFFIN
CB: Abdoulaye FAYE
CB: Ryan SHAWCROSS
LB: Danny HIGGINBOTHAM
RM: Glenn WHELAN
CM: Amdy FAYE
CM: Salif DIAO
LM: Liam LAWRENCE
CF: James BEATTIE
CF: Henri CAMARA
Pompey
GK: David JAMES
RB: Glen JOHNSON
CB: Sol CAMPBELL
CB: Sylvain DISTIN
LB: Hermann HREIDARSSON
RM: Jermaine PENNANT
CM: Sean DAVIS
CM: Angelos BASINAS
LM: Niko KRANJCAR
CF: David NUGENT
CF: Peter CROUCH
Pundit Watch
Lawro: Draw (1-1)
Sky Sports: Home Win (2-1)
Soccernet: Draw
My Prediction: Last week's performance has given me hope that we can go to Stoke and get a result. I think they maty be too strong at home for us to win but so long as we deal with their physical style and long ball game then we can grab a draw.
Stoke City 1 Pompey 1