Stoke City vs Manchester City
Date: 12/03/18
K/O: 19.45pm
Venue: Bet365 Stadium
Referee: Jonathan Moss
Paul Lambert’s relegation threatened Stoke City host Pep Guardiola’s title bound Manchester City on Monday night, though the Citizens will be without star striker Sergio Aguero, potentially for the next two weeks, who has picked up a knee injury.
After a remarkable 2017/18 campaign, including just one defeat in 29 games, City have all but strolled to the title in Guardiola’s second season in charge, and the visit to Stoke on Monday night is simply another important part of ensuring there are no slip ups en route to a third Premier League title in seven years for the club.
Embed from Getty ImagesFor Stoke, this is a game that takes on a different dimension of pressure, with the Potters currently in 19th place in the league, and on a run of one win in ten across all competitions. The appointment of Lambert was a risky one, and it currently seems to be not paying off – though three points on Monday night would go some way to ensuring Premier League survival.
For City, their most notable absentee is Aguero with a knee injury, though Stoke are expected to be without Mame Diouf (shoulder), and Kevin Wimmer and Saido Berahino are both out of the match-day squad with fitness issues.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Bet365 has long been an unhappy hunting ground for City, and despite having won on two of their last three visits to Stoke (both by 4-1 scorelines), those are their only victories in nine Premier League games away to the Potters (W2, D5, L2).
Predicted Starting XI’s:
STK: Butland; Bauer, Zouma, Martens Indi, Pieters; Cameron, Shaqiri, Ndiaye, Allen, Stafydilis; Choupou-Moting.
MCI: Ederson; Walker, Otamendi, Kompany, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva; Sterling, Jesus, Sane.
Prediction: Stoke City 0 Manchester City 2
Written by Tom Newman.
