Premier League preview and odds: Stoke City vs Manchester United

Published on: 21/12/2015

Premier League preview and odds: Stoke City vs Manchester United

December 26, 2015 15:00pm - Britannia Stadium

Premier League

Inconsistent Stoke City will once again try and break into the top ten on Saturday when they welcome out-of-sorts Manchester United to the Britannia Stadium in the Barclays Premier League.

Stoke looking for home improvement

Stoke City will need to improve their home form if they are going to make any impact on the top ten this season. Saturday`s defeat to Crystal Palace was their fourth out of eight games played at the Britannia Stadium. Only two teams in the league have scored less goals at home than Mark Hughes` men who will now get another chance to reverse their home fortunes when they welcome Manchester United on Saturday.

United on the slide

Manchester United are now winless in four games and have dropped out of the top four in the Premier League. They currently sit in fifth place, with in-form sides Crystal Palace and Watford closing in on the coveted European places.

The Red Devils come into this game on the back of a 1-2 home defeat to Norwich which marked their sixth game without a win in all competitions and their third straight defeat. With pressure mounting on Louis van Gaal, the next two games could be make or break for the veteran boss.

Team news

Stoke are still without Marc Muniesa, Peter Odemwingie, Shay Given and Peter Crouch, while Stephen Ireland and Geoff Cameron should both be available.

Meanwhile, United will have to cope without the services of Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rojo, Antonio Valencia and Luke Shaw, but Matteo Darmian could return.

Recent form (League)

Stoke City: LDWLW

Manchester United: LLDDW

Betting odds and tips

Stoke are rather unpredictable at home - they have beaten Manchester City, Chelsea and Bournemouth in recent weeks, but have lost to Watford and Crystal Palace. Meanwhile the visitors are in a bad run of form and only seem to be getting worse. This will be a great chance for the home side to bag their fourth home win of the season and the price of 9/4 from Bet365 looks tempting.

By Neil Morris

Published on: 21/12/2015

Any odds displayed within this preview were correct at the time of publishing (21/12/2015 11:51:59) but are subject to change.