Stoke City V Manchester United

Stoke City V Manchester United

Kick-Off: Saturday 26^th September – 15:00 GMT

Venue: The Brittania

Stoke City

League Position:

Recent Form: LDWLD

The Stoke manager, players, fans, well… basically everyone at the club, will be bitterly disappointed with just the draw they got against Bolton last weekend. Before the match kicked off we’re sure manager Tony Pulis will have snapped your arm off if you offered him a point at The Reebok, although, Stoke really could and probably should of gotten a lot more out of that game. Their failure to concentrate for the full 90 minutes, the basics in winning football matches, cost them dear and they paid a heavy price when Matty Taylor converted an 89^th minute penalty to spoil the Stoke celebrations.

In the end, I’m sure Tony Pulis will settle for the point and we’re pretty confident it won’t take him too long to rally the troops in time for one of the most highly anticipated arrivals of the season for Stoke fans, and that comes in the form of a Manchester United arriving at The Brittania stadium. Stoke frustrated United for large periods of the game last season, with Stoke’s in your face attitude nearly earning them a well earned point. However, United do appear a tad weaker this time around so Tony Pulis will be confident of his sides chances of sneaking a surprise result on Saturday at home to the champions. 

They are strong, tall, tireless, and resilient, however, everyone knows everything there is to know about Stoke City nowadays. They play the same tactics, the same style and in the same vigour in each of their games. With this in mind, it makes the opposing managers job a whole lot easier and you definitely don’t want to give Sir Alex Ferguson a head start in a tactical affair.

As far as form goes, Stoke’s is patchy at best. Stoke have shown that they can compete against the lesser sides but they’ve consistently come a cropper against those with real quality. They have two wins from six, with both those wins coming against sides of similar or worse stature in Burnley (2-0) & Sunderland (1-0). You may notice that both their victories, their only league victories thus far, have come at The Brittania, the venue for this game with United. If Stoke are to finally beat a ‘BIG’ side you would feel it would come on Stoke soil and not away from fortress Brittania.

Manchester United

League Position: 2nd

Recent Form: LWWWW

The current champions of England displayed about every characteristic under the sun when they took on Manchester City, their bitter local rivals, at Old Trafford in Sunday’s live encounter, and what an encounter it turned out to be. United may have won the game 4-3 but some would argue that Sir Alex’s men rode their lucky on several occasions, with Man City perhaps a little unfortunate not to have taken at least a point away from the stadium of the dreams.

The Manchester derby was a proper thriller, with both sides going at it tooth and nail. However, it came as little surprise to see the ‘Red Devils’ coming out smelling of roses when Michael Owen slotted home from inside the box, just seconds away from the finally whistle, or seconds after when the final whistle should have gone. Their was only meant to be an initial four minutes of added time but Owen’s winner came well into the fifth minute of stoppage time.

Enough about the controversy, now let’s discuss how United played, both the positives and negatives. United dominated large periods of the game with some crisp and intelligent passing which, evidentially, helped them to four goals. However, although United were clinical in the final third, well, at least from set-pieces, the United defence certainly left a lot to be desired. Rio Ferdinand was at fault for City’s third goal but goalkeeper Ben Foster has been struggling for consistency all season, and it was his costly mistakes that nearly threw away two vital points for Man Utd. The lack of confidence from Foster appears to be contagious as the United defence looks the shakiest I’ve ever seen with a nervy Ben Foster watching on.

Fergie will need to get his defence in order though this weekend as they could be in for a rough ride if they are anywhere below par like they were against City. Stoke are a team with no morales, they will do whatever they can to grind out a result and United will need to be wary of the threat their opponents will cause from set-pieces.

Head-to-Head:

Stoke City W: 0 Manchester United W: 2 Draws: 0

The pair met for the very first time last season and it was United who recorded back-to-back wins over Stoke, albeit by the slimmest of margins. United thrashed Stoke 5-0 when the pair met at Old Trafford but at the home of Stoke, The Brittania, Stoke nearly did the unthinkable and hold the ‘red Devils’ to a 0-0 draw. However, Carlo Tevez scored a late winner for United that day to spoil the Stoke party. United are without Tevez this time around so will Stoke exert some form of revenge?

Match Verdict: Manchester United to WIN – 4/9 PaddyPower

We were tempted to pluck up the courage and back the draw but Stoke’s lack of quality up front has put us of any potential such bet. United will be buoyed by their derby win over Man City and they will see this as a fabulous opportunity to carry on their charge up the table as they bid to keep up the momentum which has seen them win their last four fixtures in the Premiership. This will be tough and we don’t think United will win this comfortably but it’s hard to see Stoke causing United too many problems, apart from the odd set-piece here and there. Providing United don’t underestimate their opponents they should record their fifth successive victory.

Match Odds:

Stoke City – 15/2 Bet365

Manchester United – 4/9 PaddyPower

DRAW – 7/2 SkyBet

SoccerBetting Tip: Manchester United to WIN to NIL – 11/10 SkyBet