Stoke vs. Manchester United - Match Preview

Date: Saturday 24 September 2011 Kick off: 17:30 BST Location: Britannia Stadium Competition: Barclays Premier League Referee: Peter Walton Live on ESPN In-form Manchester United travel to Stoke City this afternoon in a early evening Premier League clash. The Red Devils have visited Stoke three times already in the Premier League and won all three. Ferguson's men will be coming to the Britannia off a 3-1 victory over rivals Chelsea thanks to goals from Wayne Rooney, Chris Smalling and Nani and a 3-0 beating of Leeds United in the Carling Cup third round which was played on Tuesday night. Currently top of the league and will be hoping for another three points tomorrow to keep up their 100% start to their current 2011-2012 campaign. But it won't be easy for United as Stoke is a hard place to go to. Tony Pulis' side played their Europa League group match last Thursday night away to Dynamo Kiev and picked up a respectable 1-1 draw. New summer signing Cameron Jerome scored on his debut. They could've stole all three points if they wouldn't of conceeded a last minute goal through a poor defensive mistake which allowed Kiev's Vukojevic to nod the ball home. The Potters then lost heavily to Sunderland last Sunday as they suffered a 4-0 loss to the team from the North East. They also, like Man Utd, played on Tuesday night in the Carling Cup third round and beat Tottenham 7-6 on penalties. Stoke currently sit in 5th position in the league and will be hoping they can knock Man Utd off their high horses come 5:30 tomorrow as the Brittania has came somewhat of a fortress for them over the past couple of seasons. They did beat Kenny Dalgish's Liverpool 1-0 just a fornight ago. Stoke Team News

Forward Kenwyne Jones is out and will not be able to play tomorrow due to a nasty hamstring injury he picked up in the midweek Carling Cup tie. Matthew Upson impressed sufficiently against Spurs in midweek pushing for a return though Tony Pulis should recall Jonathan Woodgate.

Man Utd Team News Strikers Javier Hernandez and Daniel Welbeck will be both pushing for starts alongside in-form Wayne Rooney as they both recover from their injuries respectively. Chris Smalling, who netted Man Utd's first goal against Chelsea last weekend, is a doubt (groin). England centre back Rio Ferdinand is set to return from a his calf injury. Stoke's probable line-up: Formation: 442Out: Fuller (achilles) and Higginbotham (knee) Man Utd's probable line-up: Formation: 4411Out: Smalling (groin), Rafael (shoulder), Cleverly (ankle) and Vidic (knee) The odds for Stoke vs. Manchester United have this week been provided by Best Betting Sites. Stoke City - 11/2 Draw - 3/1 Man United - 8/15 Nathan's prediction: Stoke 1-3 Man Utd