Manchester United will head to their Premier League clash with Stoke City with momentum on their side after recording a gritty 1-0 victory against Zorya Luhansk in the Europa League on Thursday. This result comes on the heels of their 4-1 win over Leicester City in the Premier League this past weekend. United have been playing some excellent football of late, going 3-0-0 over their last three matches.
They will look to stretch their unbeaten run even further when they take on struggling Stoke City this coming Sunday. The Red Devils will fancy their chances of doing just that as they have fared extremely well against the Potters at home of late. Jose Mourinho’s men have won their last eight Premier League meetings with the Potters at Old Trafford. United have outscored Stoke City, 25-6, during that span.
Expected to lead United’s charge this coming weekend is Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swedish striker leads the Red Devils in scoring with six goals this season. He displayed his attacking brilliance in the win against Zorya, nodding in the second-half winner from United’s first shot on target. It was Ibrahimovic’s first goal in five matches.
The Red Devils are pegged at -490to score first in this match.
What in the world is happening to Stoke City? The Potters are still searching for their first league win of the season after they were held to a 1-1 draw by West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. Salomon Rondon broke Stoke fans’ hearts with a last-gasp equalizer in injury time. It was another disappointing performance by the Potters who are languishing at the bottom of the Premier League table with a measly two points to their name.
It won’t get any easier for Stoke this coming Sunday as standing in their way are title contenders Manchester United. The Potters have lost 12 of their past 16 league meetings with the Red Devils. Compounding Stoke’s woes is their abysmal form on the road. Stoke have managed just a single point in their three away matches this season, fourth-fewest in the Premier League.
For Stoke to record a major shock this coming weekend, they will need to get a huge performance from their backline. The Potters are second-worst in the Premier League in scoring defense, conceding a whopping 15 goals this campaign. If that wasn’t enough, Stoke has also found it difficult to score on the road this season. The Potters have scored just two goals in their travels this campaign. The onus then is on Wilfried Bony to inject some life to the Potters’ offense. The Ivorian has yet to score for Stoke since completing his high-profile loan move from Manchester City back in August.
The Potters are pegged at +365to score first in this match.
