[2] Following last season's third-straight ninth-place finish, Mark Hughes brought in Joe Allen, Wilfried Bony, Lee Grant, Bruno Martins Indi and Ramadan Sobhi.

The team's form dropped off again around Christmas conceding three at Arsenal and four at Liverpool and Chelsea whilst home matches against Southampton and Leicester City ended in draws.

In January 2017 Hughes brought in long-term transfer target Saido Berahino whilst allowing Bojan to leave on loan.

Performances in 2017 were disappointing as Stoke won just six of the remaining 19 Premier League matches, whilst also making an early FA Cup exit.

[5] Stoke announced their retained list in June 2016; departing the club were experienced duo Peter Odemwingie and Steve Sidwell along with development squad players Ben Barber, Ed Dryden, Bobby Moseley, Ryan O'Reilly, Petros Skapetis and Mason Watkins-Clarke.

[7][8] Stoke's first pre-season match saw them lose 3–0 to a much fitter Burton Albion side with goals from Lucas Akins and a brace from Chris O'Grady.

[9] Stoke then played out a 1–1 draw against Preston North End at Deepdale, with Mame Biram Diouf cancelling out Daniel Johnson's opener.

[17] Stoke made a poor start to the match, with new Boro signing Álvaro Negredo scoring after 11 minutes and Gastón Ramírez hitting the post, as Aitor Karanka's side controlled the first half.

The Citizens took the lead in controversial fashion after referee Mike Dean awarded a penalty against Ryan Shawcross for shirt pulling, Sergio Agüero scoring from the spot.

Agüero then made it 2–0 with a header before Dean awarded Stoke a penalty for the same offence he gave Man City, Raheem Sterling pulling back Shawcross.

[27] Hughes gave debuts to new signings Wilfried Bony and Bruno Martins Indi for the visit of Tottenham Hotspur following the international break.

[32][33] Following their EFL Cup exit to Hull City, Stoke came up against midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion and former manager Tony Pulis, who was in charge of his 1,000th match.

Stoke, however, were unable to see out their first win of the season as a mix-up between Bruno Martins Indi and debutant Lee Grant gifted West Brom a late corner which was duly headed in by Salomón Rondón.

Lee Grant made a number of fine saves to deny Manchester United from taking the lead in the first half before he was eventuality beaten by Anthony Martial on 69 minutes.

Goalkeeper Lee Grant had little to do as the Black Cats put in an inept performance and City earned their first clean sheet in the league since March.

[53][54] The Potters then played away at Arsenal on 10 December and took the lead through a Charlie Adam penalty after Joe Allen had been fouled in the area by Granit Xhaka.

[57] Claude Puel's Southampton were next visitors at Stoke, and the Saints were given an advantage early on as Arnautović was sent-off by Anthony Taylor for a high challenge on Sofiane Boufal.

Hughes decided to play his most experienced players to end the run of five games without victory and it worked, with City recording a 2–0 success.

[66] Rare goals from Ryan Shawcross and Crouch gave Stoke the three points but Hughes came in for criticism from supporters for his "back to basics" approach.

[67][68] Following their poor FA Cup exit at the hands of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Stoke resumed league football with a trip to Sunderland.

Jermain Defoe pulled one back for the Black Cats just before half-time, but Stoke went on to see out a 3–1 victory, their first league win at the Stadium of Light.

Stoke controlled the first half, with Ramadan hitting the crossbar early on and they took the lead on 29 minutes through Marko Arnautović, who rounded Boro goalkeeper Víctor Valdés before scoring.

It paid off, as the Potters put a disciplined defensive performance and were able to see out a 0–0 draw, the first time all season a team had prevented Manchester City from scoring at home.

A free-kick from Willian gave Chelsea the lead after 13 minutes, with Stoke equalising through a Jon Walters penalty after he was fouled by Gary Cahill.

Jonathan Walters had given Stoke a first-half lead, but the Reds hit back with two quick goals from Brazilian duo Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino.

Jack Butland made his return to the side after 13 months out injured as Swansea won 2–0 with goals from Fernando Llorente and Tom Carroll; Marko Arnautović missed a penalty for Stoke.

[92] In the final home match of the season, Stoke put in an inept performance, falling 4–1 to Arsenal with goals from Alexis Sánchez, Mesut Özil and two from Olivier Giroud, with Peter Crouch's second-half header a mere consolation.

[96] Stoke exited this season FA Cup in the third round with a 2–0 home defeat against old Staffordshire rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers thanks to goals from Hélder Costa and Matt Doherty.

[101][102] Stoke were then knocked out of the competition by Hull City despite Marko Arnautović opening the scoring goals from Ryan Mason and Markus Henriksen earned the Tigers passage to the next round.