Stoke City vs Manchester City – English Premier League – Preview

Posted on August 19, 2016 by Sreya

Stoke City will host Manchester City at the Britannia Stadium in their second English Premier League fixture of the season on 20th August, Saturday. While Manchester City won their first match, Stoke City played out a draw, the Manchester club placed fourth on the league table and their opponents tomorrow in the eighth position.

Both clubs, however, had difficult matches with Sunderland making City toil for their 2-1 win while Stoke City fought back to clinch a 1-1 draw against Middlesborough at the Riverside stadium.

Team News

Stephen Ireland and Ibrahim Afellay are long-term absentees for Stoke City while Jack Butland and Glen Johnson have been listed as doubts. Manchester City will be without the injured Vincent Kompany and Ilkay Gundogan and the unfit Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri. Leroy Sane is a doubt as well.

Stoke City Possible Starting Lineup: Shay Given, Phil Bardsley, Philipp Wollscheid, Ryan Shawcross, Erik Pieters, Glenn Whelan, Giannelli Imbula, Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan, Marko Arnautovic, Mame Biram Diouf.

Manchester City Possible Starting Lineup: Willy Caballero, Bacary Sagna, John Stones, Aleksandar Kolarov, Gael Clichy, Fernandinho, Raheem Sterling, Kevin de Bruyne, David Silva, Nolito, Sergio Aguero.

“I have a lot of respect for Joe. I know how good a goalkeeper he is, but I decided for Willy. I have to create a team spirit. It’s not about tactics, it’s not about anything, and I decided today for this line-up.”

– Pep Guardiola, Manchester City.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, Manchester City have won three and lost two of their last six matches against Stoke City. Stoke City have seen less than 2.5 goals in nine of their last ten home matches against Manchester City in all competitions and this is expected to be a low-scoring game.

With Pep Guardiola likely to select the same starting eleven as last match, Manchester City are expected to win 1-0.