Huddersfield Town have enjoyed a fruitful campaign so far, with the Terriers sitting in sixth place despite being tipped for a mid-table finish before the season was underway.
Carlos Corberan's men are unbeaten in nine games in all competitions, with five wins and four draws in that time.
They saw off Reading 4-3 last time out, with Danny Ward netting a hat-trick to push his side into the play-off places.
Stoke City have been too inconsistent to maintain their play-off push and have slipped to 11th coming into this game, the lowest they have been so far this season.
Michael O'Neill's side have won just one league game from four since the turn of the year.
They were beaten 1-0 at Coventry City in midweek, with Viktor Gyokeres netting in the second half.
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Team news
The Terriers are still without on-loan centre-back Levi Colwill, with the 18-year-old nursing a knee injury that has made him miss the last three games.
Ryan Schofield remains out with a shoulder injury, while Rolando Aarons and Alex Vallejo are both longer-term absentees with their respective knee injuries.
Ben Wilmot is in contention to feature for the Potters after a back injury, whilst Steven Fletcher returns following an illness.
Sam Surridge is also likely to be available after a knee problem.
Joe Bursik and Romaine Sawyers are both training on the grass, but not match fit as of yet.
Harry Souttar, Abdallah Sima and Tom Edwards all face longer spells on the sidelines.
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Predicted lineups
Huddersfield Town (4-3-3)
Nicholls; Pipa, Lees, Pearson, Toffolo; O'Brien, Hogg, Sinani; Thomas, Ward, Koroma.
Stoke City (3-4-1-2)
Bonham; Wilmot, Jagielka, Harwood-Bellis; Smith, Allen, Baker, Tymon; Powell; Brown, Fletcher.
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Ones to watch
Thomas has enjoyed a rapid rise to the second-tier of English football, with the 23-year-old winger plying his trade at Boreham Wood in the National League as recently as January 2021. He arrived at Huddersfield with a reputation for being one of non-league's best players.
He has made a real breakthrough this season, with three goals and 11 assists in all competitions. His early season form was rewarded with a call-up to the Wales national team in September, as well as the league Player of the Month in August.
Powell is a product of the Crewe Alexandra youth academy and joined Manchester United at just 18 years old, but failed to ever nail down a spot for the Red Devils as a youngster. A fruitful three year spell at Wigan Athletic saw him join the Potters in 2019, where he scored 17 goals in 72 games in his first two seasons.
This time around he began the campaign in red-hot form, with six goals in 11 games - but a fibula injury in October saw him ruled out until a cameo return in midweek against Coventry. The Potters have sorely missed his influence in his absence.
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Previous meetings
The return fixture between these two saw Stoke come out 2-1 winners courtesy of a Jacob Brown strike and an own goal from Matty Pearson.
Huddersfield have won just one (1-0, October 2019) of their last nine league games against the Potters, drawing four and losing four.
City are unbeaten in their last four away games at the John Smith's Stadium (W1, D3) in a run that dates back to November 1997.
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How to watch
The game kicks off at 19:45 GMT on Friday January 28.
It will be shown live on Sky Sports Main Event.