Now 14 games into the season, Manchester City find themselves at the top of a very tight Premier League table.
The Citizens are level on points with Claudio Ranieri’s impressive Leicester City, while the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham are right on their heels. Only four points separate these top five sides.
The weekend will see Manuel Pellegrini’s men face a tough trip to Stoke City. The Britannia is never an easy place to visit for any team and there is no doubt that the Sky Blues will not have it easy. With the title race taking shape and City at the pinnacle of it, every game is arguably a must win.
Outside90’s Rahul Dantes looks at four factors that might be key factors in deciding the outcome of Saturday’s fixture between the two sides.
City’s weak defence
Much has been said in recent weeks of City’s struggling defence. The Sky Blues have kept just two clean sheets in their last 16 matches in all competitions, both of which came in goalless draws. The absence of key defenders due to injury continues to be a worrying factor for Pellegrini and they have particularly missed skipper Vincent Kompany, who has been in formidable form whenever he has featured. Besides him, Eliaquim Mangala and Pablo Zabaleta have also missed the last few games. Joe Hart is the latest to suffer an injury, which he picked up in his side’s 1-0 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League. All of the injured defenders, along with Samir Nasri, are expected to miss out on the trip to Stoke, which also gives the Potters a better chance at getting something out of this encounter.
Stoke’s form
Stoke City have been in a decent run of form, losing only two of their last nine league games. The Potters have developed a reputation of grinding out results, winning all of their league games this season by only a single goal. That might be exactly what Mark Hughes’ side might need if they need to take down the league leaders. Despite them sitting in 12th position in the league, Stoke have the fourth best defensive record, conceding 14 in 14 games so far.
Looking at their last three home outings, Stoke have managed to beat Bournemouth and Chelsea, while they have also lost to Watford. City, on their other hand, have recently struggled away from home and have failed to win any in of their last three outings, losing one and drawing two.
In their last seven games, @stokecity have won five, lost just once and taken 16 points. #SSNHQ pic.twitter.com/iOLvIJjuYM
— Sky Sports News HQ (@SkySportsNewsHQ) November 28, 2015
City’s attacking threat
While their defence has not been up to the mark, City have had a lot of joy going forward. They have scored more goals than any other team in the league (30) and have failed to net only on two occasions this season. Sergio Aguero is currently the club’s top scorer, although he too is likely to miss the trip due to an injury he picked up in the last game against Southampton. Even with Aguero missing, City still pose a very threatening attacking line-up as Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, Wilfried Bony, Yaya Toure and David Silva all more than capable of getting on the scoresheet.
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Recent fixtures
Looking at recent history between the two clubs, the Potters have very little to be proud of. Since re-joining the Premier League in 2008, Stoke have won just three of the 18 fixtures against City in all competitions. The Sky Blues have won nine of them, including a FA Cup final in 2011. Stoke’s last win in this fixtures came as recent as last season though, when they narrowly beat City at the Etihad 1-0.
A win for Stoke could propel them up to the top half of the table, while it would seem that City must win if they are to maintain pole position in the league. Certainly not an easy game for either team, but both sides will have reasons to believe that they can grab all three points.
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