Stoke City vs. Man U
Venue: Bet365
Kick off: 5:30pm
Manchester United make the trip to the Bet365 Stadium to face Stoke City having recorded three consecutive wins in the Premier League without conceding a goal.
Stoke play host to the league leaders with four points to their name, but the Potters have already defeated Arsenal at their Staffordshire home.
At the end of last season, questions were asked over whether Mark Hughes was the right man to lead Stoke forward after a poor season in the top flight, but the Welshman has already started to repay the faith shown in him by the Potters hierarchy.
Like with the last campaign, Stoke have been handed a tough start and although they lost out to Everton on the opening day, four points from fixtures with Arsenal and West Bromwich Albion have given plenty of cause for optimism going forward.
The 1-0 success over Arsenal has set a level of performance which Hughes now expects, especially with new signings Kurt Zouma, Darren Fletcher and Jese Rodrgiuez all making an early impression.
Meanwhile, many of Man United’s performances during pre-season left a lot to be desired, but there can be no doubting that Jose Mourinho’s side have looked the real deal since the start of the Premier League.
There is still a long way to go, but the manner in which West Ham United and Swansea City were dismantled, and the perseverance which was shown against Leicester City, suggests that United could take some stopping.
Romelu Lukaku has hit the ground running with three goals in as many games, while Henrik Mkhitaryan, Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial have all contributed in the final third at a time when the trio needed to prove themselves at different stages of their United career.
The defence arguably looks as impressive as the attack, even with Victor Lindelof still having to wait in the wings for his debut after signing from Benfica, so everything points to United being in the perfect position to continue their recent form today.
Stoke City possible XI: Butland, Zouma, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Cameron, Fletcher, Allen, Pieters, Shaqiri, Jese, Berahino.
Manchester United possible XI: De Gea, Valencia, Bailly, Jones, Blind, Matic, Herrera, Mkhitaryan, Pogba, Rashford, Lukaku.