The pick of the Saturday afternoon kick-offs sees Manchester United travel to the Bet365 Stadium, to play Stoke City. Both teams sit inside the top half of the Premier League table but need a win for different reasons.
Stoke, first and foremost, want to guarantee their place in the Premier League for another season and then push on and see just how high they can finish in the table. Manchester United are aiming to break into the top four and close in on at least second place, with Chelsea so far out in-front.
Stoke have returned to winning ways in the Premier League recently, having gone through a sticky patch which saw them pick up only 2 points from a possible 15 available. However, three of those five matches were away to three of the current top four teams in the league, so in many ways it was not a shock to see Stoke defeated. A more pressing concern would have been the dropped points at home to Southampton and Leicester but the 2-0 home win against Watford at the beginning of January and the 3-1 win at Sunderland last weekend, has seen Stoke return to winning ways just in time for the visit of Manchester United.
Jose Mourinho’s men were forced to settle for a point last time out against Liverpool. Overall, it was probably a fair result although Manchester United did create the better chances throughout the game and did well to come back into the match having conceded a poor penalty. The draw kept Manchester United’s unbeaten run going and trends show it is now sixteen games without defeat in all competitions for the Red Devils. Looking further back, Manchester United have lost only two of their previous twenty-six games and this shows just how difficult to beat they have become.
Away from home in the Premier League, Manchester United have picked up 13 points from the last 15 available, winning four and drawing one. During those games, United have scored 10 goals, at an average of 2 per game and conceded only 3, at an average of 0.6 per game. Mourinho’s team have also kept a clean sheet in each of their last two Premier League games on the road.
As for Stoke, they are unbeaten in their last four home Premier League matches and have kept three clean sheets in the process. Mark Hughes will be pleased with the way his defence have been performing, especially with the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic coming to town. Stoke have lost just one of their last eight league games at the Bet365 Stadium and will be hoping to extend that run by winning this one. However, Manchester United are extremely tough to beat and should come away from this match with at least a point, if not more.
Hughes will be looking at the way Manchester United defended from set-pieces last weekend and may target this area during the game but Mourinho should be prepared for that. Expect Manchester United to find the back of the net in the game and possibly see it out to win 1-0. Otherwise, we could be in for a low scoring draw, a result which would surely see Manchester United out of the title race.