Stoke City turned the pressure on West Bromwich Albion in the top half of the table with a convincing 2-0 win against Middlesbrough last weekend. The win has surely reinstated in them the lost confidence after the absolute mauling at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur two weeks back.
The Potters visit Etihad Stadium next to face an in-form Manchester City side, who have faltered only once in their last four Premier League matches against Stoke. And if that was discouraging, Stoke City’s goal scoring record against them is disheartening as they have netted just once in their previous eight visits to the Etihad.
City wouldn’t want to waste a realistic chance of closing the point gap with league leaders Chelsea and Stoke’s away form only strengthens their belief. The Potters have lost five of their last six away league matches and are definitely not the favourites going into the fixture.
Strongest Stoke City XI vs Manchester City
Defence
Lee Grant is expected to start between the sticks again. The 34-year-old has conceded 26 goals in 22 games this season so far and Stoke would definitely expect Manchester City’s brute force to come all out at the Etihad. Grant will have a huge task on his hands.
Erik Pieters is expected to start in the left back position and Glenn Johnson is likely to take the right back position. Phil Bardsley had a decent run in that position while Johnson was recovering from his Achilles injury but now with the English defender fit, Hughes won’t experiment with Bardsley.
Dutch centre-half Bruno Martins-Indi was subbed off late into the match with a leg injury and isn’t expected to be fit for the crunch clash. The Spaniard, Marc Muniesa is likely to replace him again alongside Ryan Shawcross. It might be a big concern given the sync that had developed between the duo of Shawcross and Indi.
Midfield
The suicidal midfield display against Tottenham had forced Hughes to make changes, and quite surprisingly the Welsh manager opted to stick with Glenn Whelan and bench Charlie Adam, who according to many was the better of the two.
Anyway, Hughes won’t be changing the success formula this time for sure. We expect centre-half Geoff Cameron to start alongside Whelan in the midfield. Joe Allen should start in the number 10 role behind the striker.
Attack
Xherdan Shaqiri has returned to training from his calf injury and Hughes would want his best player to take the pitch against a City side, who are known for poor defending under pressure. Ramadan Sobhi has been quite impressive on the flanks so far, but he is expected to give way to the Swiss superstar.
Marko Arnautovic should start on the other flank. After his brace against Boro last match, he is brimming with confidence. Peter Crouch will spearhead the attack.
GRANT
JOHNSON- SHAWCROSS- MUNIESA- PIETERS
WHELAN- CAMERON
SHAQIRI- ALLEN- ARNAUTOVIC
CROUCH
