By Ronnie Macdonald from Chelmsford, United Kingdom – Stoke City FC V Arsenal 09, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12753260
12:30pm – 20.08.16 – Bet365 Stadium
Stoke v Man City
Thanks to a late Paddy McNair own goal the Guardiola era got up and running with a win, albeit a rather unconvincing performance, but they followed it up by thumping Steaua Bucharest 5-0 mid-week. After the Sunderland game Pep admitted that he realised how stern a test the Premier League is going to be, so now can he do it on a wet, rainy Tuesday night at Stoke? (Well…it’s on a Saturday and could well be sunny!).
The Potters will be happy to have come away with a point in their opener with Shaqiri’s free-kick equaliser their only registered shot on target. Tony Pulis made the Britannia notoriously difficult for the top Premier League teams to visit and Mark Hughes has continued this, returning a W7-D5-L6 record against the top-six, scoring at least twice in six of these victories.
The Citizens away form is definitely an area Guardiola will look to improve as they’ve won just five of their 18 away matches against top-half sides in the last two seasons, losing on eight occasions. Their mid-week performance was promising but it’s a long trip to Romania and a strong starting XI was used so it will be interesting to see what effect this may have.
We expect Stoke to raise their games as they often do against the big clubs and especially Man City, who they’ve only lost once to at home since their Premier League bow (W2-D5-L1).
Best Bet: Stoke – Draw Double Chance at 2.1
Recomendations:
Both teams have scored in Stoke’s last four league matches. Yes Both Teams To Score Bet 1.72
There have been Under 2.5 goals in seven of Manchester City’s last eight away league matches against Stoke. Under Total Goals 2.5 Bet 1.95
