Man City vs. Stoke City
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Kick off: 3PM
Manchester City play host to Stoke City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon, aiming to continue their impressive start to the season that has seen them remain unbeaten so far.
The Citizens have won nine and drawn one of their 10 games in all competitions, keeping them on course for silverware on multiple fronts in Pep Guardiola’s second campaign at the helm.
Pep Guardiola had been keen to play down his side’s winning run of form in the days leading up to the international break, stressing that the campaign was just a couple of months old at the time.
The 1-0 victory away to defending champions Chelsea last time out changed all that, though, as City claimed top spot on goal difference to send out a serious message to their rivals.
Guardiola rightly pointed out that City won 10 from 10 in his first season in English football, compared to nine from 10 this time around, but the Citizens look far more balanced compared to 12 months ago and appear to have the ability to see this title challenge right the way through.
A perfect blend of attack and defence, City conceded just one goal in the month of September in all competitions – coming against West Bromwich Albion in the EFL Cup – with six clean sheets from a possible seven.
Stoke make the trip to the Etihad Stadium on the back of a rather underwhelming run of results, although the difficulty of their fixtures thus far must be factored in.
Ex-City boss Mark Hughes saw his side end their five-match run without victory last time out when edging out Southampton 2-1 at the bet365 Stadium, secured thanks to a Peter Crouch goal in the final five minutes – his third of the campaign in just seven outings.
Manchester City possible XI: Ederson, Delph, Otamendi, Stones, Walker, D.Silva, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Sane, Jesus, Sterling.
Stoke City possible XI: Butland, Wimmer, Cameron, Zouma, Pieters, Fletcher, Allen, Diouf, Choupo-Moting, Shaqiri, Jese.