Stoke City vs Manchester United
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 1 February, 2014
15:00 KO (BST)
Britannia Stadium, Stoke (27,743)
Stoke City (16th)
“Whenever you play Manchester United it’s difficult but with Mata, van Persie and Rooney coming back into the fold we’ve had a few sleepless nights this week. But that’s why we’re in the game. We feel, and quite rightly so, that we can give anyone a game on our own patch and I’m sure we’ll do tomorrow against United.” – Mark Bowen.
Starting XI from: Asmir Begovic, Thomas Sorensen; Marc Muniesa, Ryan Shawcross, Marc Wilson, Erik Pieters, Geoff Cameron, Ryan Shotton; Maurice Edu, Glenn Whelan, Wilson Palacios, Charlie Adam, Stephen Ireland, Oussama Assaidi, Marko Arnautovic; Jonathan Walters, Peter Crouch, Peter Odemwingie, John Guidetti
Doubts: Matthew Etherington (calf), Andy Wilkinson (foot)
Unavailable: Robert Huth (knee), Steven N’Zonzi (suspension)
Top scorer: Charlie Adam (5)
Most assists: Peter Crouch (4)
Home record: P11 W4 D5 L2 F14 A12 Pts17
Home form: W D W W D L
“I think some of our performances have been quite good, we just didn’t finish our chances. When you want to win you need people like Robin van Persie, who will get you the winning goal.” – David Moyes.
“We can’t keep saying every time we get a win that it is going to kick-start our season. We need to make sure, especially at home, that we keep performing.” – Jonny Evans.
“It has always been difficult to play against Stoke. But if you try to play quickly, you can get chances to score and put yourself in a good position.” – Juan Mata.
Starting XI from: David de Gea, Anders Lindegaard; Rafael da Silva, Phil Jones, Jonny Evans, Chris Smalling, Alex Buttner, Patrice Evra; Antonio Valencia, Adnan Januzaj, Ashley Young, Ryan Giggs, Darren Fletcher, Tom Cleverley, Shinji Kagawa, Juan Mata; Danny Welbeck, Javier Hernandez, Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie
Doubts: Rio Ferdinand (knee), Marouane Fellaini (wrist), Michael Carrick (ankle)
Unavailable: Nani (hamstring), Nemanja Vidic (suspension)
Top scorer: Wayne Rooney (9)
Most assists: Wayne Rooney (9)
Away record: P11 W6 D2 L3 F22 A17 Pts20
Away form: D D W W W L
Away record vs Stoke: P48 W14 D16 L18 F56 A71
Last five meetings at the Britannia Stadium
Stoke 0-2 United (18-12-13)
Stoke 0-2 United (14-04-13)
Stoke 1-1 United (24-09-11)
Stoke 1-2 United (24-10-10)
Stoke 0-2 United (26-09-09)
Officials
Referee: Neil Swarbrick.
The 43-year-old official has taken charge of 12 Premier League matches this season, brandishing 29 yellow cards. He’s yet to send a player off, but has awarded 2 penalties. Took charge of United’s 2-2 draw away to Cardiff at the end of November. Swarbrick has never overseen a league fixture at the Britannia Stadium.
Assistants: L Betts, A Halliday.
Fourth Official: Mike Oliver.
Notes
The match will mark the 100th occasion United and Stoke have met in a competitive fixture.
Should he feature, Tom Cleverley will make a 50th appearance in the Premier League for Manchester United.
United are unbeaten in 13 matches vs Stoke City, recording 12 wins and 1 draw.
Stoke have conceded 9 goals in their last 4 home matches.
United have won 5 of the last 6 meetings between the sides at the Britannia Stadium.
Stoke have lost 5 of the last 6 games in the Premier League.
United are unbeaten in the last 28 matches in which Robin van Persie has scored.
United have scored 2+ goals in 9 of the last 10 competitive fixtures against Stoke.
Odds
Stoke City 9/2 Draw 14/5 Manchester United 8/13
RedMancunian predictions
Jack (@jackkholt): Stoke 1-2 United
Craig (@CraigNorwood): Stoke 1-1 United
Jay (@RFFH): Stoke 1-3 United
Sam (@CenterSneak): Stoke 0-2 United
Nick (@ManUnitedYouth): Stoke 2-3 United
Mark (@mdhzk3): Stoke 0-4 United
One reply on “MATCH PREVIEW: Stoke City vs Manchester United”
We hope today is 5-0 united win