Football – England – Premier League
Wednesday 11th February 2015 – Kickoff: 1945hrs
Stoke City will head into tonight’s encounter with Manchester City in a positive frame of mind having lost just once in their last seven Premier League matches, as they look to consolidate their top half position in the division.
The one blemish in this seven-match sequence was a forgivable 3-0 loss at The Emirates as they went down to Arsenal, but recent wins over Leicester City and QPR along with points nicked off Manchester United and Newcastle United has meant that they’ve avoided being dragged down into the bottom reaches of the table.
Stoke’s home record stands at 5-2-4 15/13 but they do have a pretty good record at the Britannia Stadium against top half opposition as they’ve beaten Swansea City and Arsenal along with holding West Ham and Manchester United to draws.
Visitors Manchester City have won just once in their last six in the top flight and that was a 3-2 home win over Sunderland, a game they would have expected to win in more convincing fashion than they did. In addition, they’ve lost at home to Arsenal and have been held to draws by Everton, Chelsea and Hull City.
With the exception of the Chelsea result, City would have viewed their recent stalemates as four points lost in their race for the title against the London club, and another tricky fixture awaits them this evening against The Potters.
Man City’s away record stands at a very solid 7-4-1 26/12 but most of their successes on their travels have been against bottom half opposition, while they’ve gained just one win in four encounters on the road at top half teams.
With all this information to mind, I’ll back Stoke City to give last season’s champions a good run for their money and if they do happen to lose, I’m confident it won’t be a landslide. Back Stoke with the +1 handicap, result could end up perhaps a 1-1 draw.
Pick: Stoke City AH+1 @ 1.69 Bet Victor
