Manchester City head to Stoke on Monday evening looking to further close in on the Premier League title.
With Liverpool losing 2-1 at Manchester United on Saturday lunchtime the required results for City to win the league will be clear and Pep Guardiola’s men will want to make sure they do it in record time.
With no league game after Stoke until March 31, City will want to make sure they go into the break with maximum points against Paul Lambert’s struggling side who sit second bottom of the table.
City may have lost to Basel midweek but there were some promising performances from fringe players, particularly Phil Foden who looked at home in the centre of the park.
While it is likely to be a bit too soon for Benjamin Mendy and Fernandinho there could be more minutes for Gabriel Jesus who scored on his return to the starting line-up.
Stoke have struggled of late and have drawn their last three games with goals being hard to come by. Whilst defensively solid it will be difficult to see them stopping City’s rampant attack and finding the firepower to hurt the blues.
Mame Diouf is out injured for The Potters which will come as a big blow. The Senegalese striker has a shoulder injury.
But Guardiola will know City will not get the easy ride that saw them thump the potters 7-2 in October.
Vincent Kompany could return having missed out on the last two games to give the blues a more physical presence in the backline against a physically strong Stoke side.
Fabian Delph may also return at left-back having served his three-match suspension following his red card in the FA Cup defeat to Wigan. Raheem Sterling may also return from a hamstring injury, although it would seem harsh to leave out Bernardo Silva on current form. Sergio Aguero is likely to return up front.
City fly out to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday for some warm weather training but Pep will be impressing on his players not to be concentrating on the sunshine too early as they are unlikely to get a glowing reception at Stoke.
