STOKE VS MANCHESTER CITY PREVIEW & PREDICTION
For the game on Monday, the Citizens travel to Stoke. The team of Guardiola is currently on a master class, it looks very different in the home team. Stoke City is in the middle of relegation battle – only 27 points, the Potters won in 29 games. So they should definitely come to points in this home game. Stoke’s record against Manchester City does not look good. The first leg won the team from Manchester clearly 7-2. City is also the clear favorite in the upcoming match. The odds of winning the league leaders are only in the 1.3 range.
After all, Manchester City is almost a master firmly. They already have 16 points ahead of the city rivals. With that, the Citizens could choose the champion five laps to go. The game is also groundbreaking for Stoke, so we expect a lot of goals – similar to the first direct match of the season.
Stoke:
In the past season, Stoke earned 44 points and finished 14th. They did not qualify for European games for the current season. Currently, the gap to the European places is even greater, because Stoke is in a crisis. Only six games won the team of coach Lambert, with the main problem, especially the games in stadiums are foreign. At home, Stoke has celebrated five of the six wins this season. In addition, the team earned eight points from the last five games. Only Newcastle defeated Stoke City at home in the past rounds. This makes it clear that the Potters enter too few points. In the Premier League, such a yield is not enough! It looks like Stoke City will not be in the top league next season. After all, Stoke is on the second last place in the table. However, the teams in the table cellar are all very close to each other. Only six points separates Swansea (13th place) from the Potters. Everything is possible in the remaining nine rounds.
Nevertheless, Stoke should slowly earn the important points, if another turn is to be heralded. For the defensive must be more stable and concede fewer goals. Currently, Stoke has the worst defense in the league with West Ham. The offensive is not remarkable either. Only three goals have scored the Potters in the past five games, with the native Basel Xherdan Shaqiri all three hits marked. The little Swiss is the top scorer of Stoke City with his seven goals. Shaqiri will also be the only player in the game to score a goal for the home team. After all, Mame Diouf last met in January.
Manchester City:
This offensive problem does not know the team of Guardiola. With 83 goals scored, City is by far the league’s most powerful offensive. Thus, the fans of Citizens cheer on average almost three hits per game. Therefore, it is not surprising that there are five city players in front of Shaqiri in the scorers list. Aguero and Sterling have met the most so far, with the Argentinian with 21 goals the clear top scorer – Agüero has scored almost as many goals as the whole team of Stoke scored. In addition to this excellent offensive, Manchester City has also conceded the least goals. Therefore, it is not surprising that the Citizens have lost just one game (4: 3 against Liverpool) and clearly lead the table with 78 points. City rival United is the first pursuer of Man City, with a gap of 16 points. Nine laps to go, the championship title is almost certainly in the hands of City.
On the European stage, the English convince. In the group stage Manchester dominated each team and won the first five games with a goal balance of 13: 3. Thus, the English secured the first place in Group F prematurely. In the last group game Pep Guardiola spared his stars and prompt Manchester City lost the first game this season – this occurred only in December! In the last sixteen, the Swiss champions from Basel faced as opponents. In the first leg, the English showed impressively their playful class and won 4-0. In the second leg followed the similar sequence, as in the last group game: the B-Elf lost the game with 1: 2. In the Premier League game, all the stars will play and forget the defeat of last Wednesday.
PREDICTION: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.52
