Manchester City vs Stoke City Preview | Team News, Facts & Key Men

Mark Hughes faces off against his former club on Saturday, when he takes his Stoke side to the Etihad for the third round of fixtures in the English Premier League. Both teams managed to avoid defeat last weekend, with Stoke drawing 1-1 with Hull City and Manchester City blowing away last season’s second place team Liverpool 3-1 in their Monday night home fixture. However, Hughes’ Stoke side is extremely hard to break down, and Manuel Pellegrini will know his work is cut out for him to get a result against the Potters on Saturday.

Previous Encounter

Edin Dzeko scored the only goal of a tense, hard-fought affair at the Etihad to win the game 1-0 for the Citizens.

Team News

Alvaro Negredo is still on the sidelines for City, and Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that new signing Eliaquim Mangala will not feature in this match due to a lack of match fitness. Robert Huth and Victor Moses are both set to miss out due to lack of match fitness for the Potters.

Interesting Facts

• Stoke City only scored 2 headed goals in the Premier League last season, fewer than any other team – Courtesy OptaJoe
• Stoke have only kept 3 clean sheets in their last 25 Premier League games – Courtesy Optajoe
• These two teams met at Wembley in 2011 for the FA Cup final, en route to Manchester City’s first title in 44 years.
• Since being promoted to the Premier League, Stoke have yet to score away at the Eithad in 6 attempts.
• Head-to-head: MCI:46 STK:35 D:24

Key Men

Manchester City – Stevan Jovetic

After an injury-plagued first campaign for the Montenegrin forward from Fiorentina, it seems Stevan Jovetic has finally arrived in the Premier League – after a match-winning performance against Liverpool at the Etihad on Monday that included 2 goals and bagged him the Man of the Match award. His link-up play with Dzeko was excellent, and he played just off his Bosnian strike partner to team up with Silva and Nasri in a more mobile attacking role, one that saw him drift to the flanks as well as run into space in the centre; his creativity and spark give City an edge they didn’t know they had last season, so expect him to dazzle once more on home turf.

Stoke City – Ryan Shawcross

His goalscoring exploits may have seen the Potters bag a point against Hull last weekend, but the 26 year old defender will have to be on top of his game to prevent the Citizens from scoring. He made almost as many clearances last season than Vincent Kompany and Martin Demichelis last season (330 to 337) and won more aerial duels (142) than any defender in the league. Expect him to be a nuisance on set pieces, but his aerial dominance may count for nothing against City’s formidable front 4 and their creativity and passing fluidity.

Projected Starting XIs

Manchester City: 4-2-2-2: Hart – Zabaleta,Kompany,Demichelis,Kolarov – Fernando,Fernandinho  – Navas,Silva – Jovetic,Dzeko.

Stoke City: 4-3-3:  Begovic – Bardsley,Shawcross,Wilson,Pieters – N’Zonzi,Whelan,Sidwell – Arnautovic,Odemwingie,Diouf

Prediction

Stoke City are a notoriously difficult fixture, even at home, but with City currently on song, it is hard to look past them for the win.

Manchester City 4-0 Stoke City

Chelsea vs Leicester Preview & Prediction (23/Aug 22:00)

Probable Lineups

 Team News

Chelsea

• Ramires returns from suspension, but is unlikely to start for Chelsea after their dominating display at Burnley.
• José Mourinho has no pressing injury concerns ahead of the welcome of Leicester.
• However, the Portuguese may rest André Schürrle, with Willian expected to come in, in what could be Mourinho's only change.

 Leicester

• Nigel Pearson will be sweating on the fitness of midfielder Daniel Drinkwater, who limped off in the first half of the 2-2 draw with Everton. Dean Hammond could take his place in midfield.
• Jamie Vardy and Marc Albrighton are both doubts, while Matthew Upson is expected to miss out with injury once more.
• Chris Wood may have to settle for a place on the bench again, despite his late equaliser on Saturday.

Prediction

• Despite falling behind at Turf Moor, Chelsea's title quest kicked off in impressive fashion on Monday night and José Mourinho will be expecting more or less the same level of quality when they welcome newly-promoted Leicester to Stamford Bridge.
• Leicester, meanwhile, rescued a point from the clutches of defeat on Saturday and will be the more rested of the two teams ahead of the weekend. A trip to Chelsea is expected to test their Premier League credentials as they aim to consolidate their position in England's top tier.
• Chelsea have lost just once at Stamford Bridge in the league under Mourinho, but don't expect Leicester to come away with a result here. The hosts should come out victorious in this one.

West Ham vs Tottenham Preview & Prediction (16/Aug ~ 22:00)

Probable Lineups

Team News

West Ham

• Sam Allardyce is expected to be without Andy Carroll, Carl Jenkinson, Guy Demel and Enner Valencia for the season opener against Tottenham.
• Ravel Morrison and summer signing Aaron Cresswell are both doubts, though the latter is expected to be fit to make his debut against Spurs.
• Elsewhere, Allardyce may hand first starts to Diego Poyet and Mauro Zárate, though Cheikhou Kouyaté may have to settle for a place on the bench.

  Tottenham

• Mauricio Pochettino is expected to be without injured quartet Mousa Dembélé, Vlad Chiriches, Michael Dawson and Kyle Walker for his first game as Spurs manager. Jan Vertonghen didn't feature in pre-season following the World Cup so should miss out.
• Summer arrivals Eric Dier and Ben Davies are likely to make their league debuts at Upton Park, while Michel Vorm should take his place on the bench.
• Roberto Soldado may get the nod over Emmanuel Adebayor in attack. Erik Lamela is also in line to make his first league start since December.

Prediction

• West Ham secured three wins from three against Spurs last season and will be out to get their campaign off to a great start against their London rivals. There is pressure on Allardyce to perform above expectations this term, so will motivate his players to put on a show in front of their own fans.
• Spurs have enjoyed a good pre-season, but Pochettino will face a baptism of fire when he takes his players across London to Upton Park. The Hammers will be out to spoil the party for their London rivals and hinder their top-4 dreams early on.
• Both teams have strengthened over the summer, but West Ham without main striker Andy Carroll could see Spurs nick this one.

Coventry City v Cardiff City Betting Preview | 2014-08-14

Coventry v Cardiff
Football : Capital One Cup
Venue: Sixfields Stadium
Wednesday 14th August 2014 – Kickoff time 02:45

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Cardiff who are the favourites to gain promotion to the Premiership this season will take on League One hopeful Coventry in the Capital One Cup on Tuesday night.

Cardiff are the visitors here but the start as favourites as they have yet to taste defeat against Coventry as they have managed 3 wins and 3 draws in all competitions.

Cardiff started life in the Championships with a 1-1 draw against Blackburn in their opening match. It should be noted here that Cardiff have only lost one of their last six first round ties in the League Cup, that was back in 2012 against Northampton so they should get through against Coventry in this tie.

Cardiff do have quality in their side the likes of Adam Le Fondre, Nicky Maynard, Federico Macheda, Javy Guerra and Friday night’s scorer Kenwyne Jones all capable of scoring.

Meanwhile Coventry lost their opening match to Bradford last weekend and now they could face an uphill task without Callum Wilson after he was sold off to Bournemouth in the summer.

Reda Johnson scored two goals in his opening match for Coventry but the fact that Coventry haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their previous five home games in the League Cup means they are likely to struggle here.

And for the record, Coventry have also gone out in the first round of the competition in four of their last five appearances.

Take Cardiff and give the 1/2 ball here.

The Pick :

Coventry 0-1 Cardiff City

DONE DEAL: Chelsea confirm Middlesbrough move for Kenneth Omeruo by Chris David on August 6, 2014

Chelsea defender Kenneth Omeruo has left Stamford Bridge to extend his loan spell at Middlesbrough for another season.

A statement on Boro’s official website read, “Chelsea defender Kenneth Omeruo has finalised his return to Middlesbrough on a season long loan…”

“The Nigerian international arrives on the back of a summer that saw him feature in all four of his country’s World Cup matches in Brazil.”

The 20-year-old spent the second half of the last season at Riverside Stadium and will now continue his loan spell for another season with the Championship side. Middlesbrough boss Aitor Karanka has expressed his delight after completing a loan move for Omeruo.

“He is a very important player to us. He’s someone I love to have with us because he’s a player who came here from Chelsea and his mood was always perfect,” Karanka said.

“He was always happy and fighting for his position. He was handed the opportunity to play in the World Cup and he is now coming back to us a better player.”

Meanwhile, Chelsea have released a statement on their official website, wishing the centre-back and also confirming his loan move to Middlesbrough.

Real Madrid refuse PSG's offer to sign Angel di Maria

Another twist in the tale in the Angel di Maria saga. Well, to be honest, there is hardly anything from Madrid based newspapers, but Catalan newspapers have an update on it. And it might excite Manchester United fans.

Just to recap what we have seen over the past couple of months – a) Real Madrid willing to sell the player b) the player wants to move c) player is key in Carlo Ancelotti’s plan d) Madrid signed James Rodriguez and will recoup the money by selling him to the highest bidder e) Manchester United and PSG have shown interest in him f) his price has almost doubled in these two months g) PSG ready to pay €80m for him h) However, they cannot sign unless they sell i) they offered €10m for him, will pay the remaining €70m next year  - any idea what is the next point?

Of course you know. Real Madrid have rejected it. Why won’t they? But, double check – the report comes from Catalan press (Sport), and they basically took the news from English sources.

PSG are now looking to sell Cavani to comply with the FFP rules, but as we have seen the Uruguayan recently admitted that he is not looking for a move this summer, which means United might have a chance to lure Di Maria for a much lower price. Obviously, you don’t expect United to pay €80m for a single player!

Juventus Want Two Manchester United Players As Arturo Vidal Looks Set For Old Trafford Transfer

Juventus have identified two Manchester United squad players as possible makeweights in any deal for star midfielder Arturo Vidal, according to Corriere dello Sport.

The Italian giants would want to open talks with United for the signings of Javier Hernandez and Nani if Vidal is to leave Turin for Manchester this summer, with the Chilean ace widely expected to make the move to Old Trafford.

United have long been in the market for a world class signing in midfield, and Vidal has been mentioned as one of their top targets for this summer, whilst other big names such as Toni Kroos and Fredy Guarin have also been linked with the club.

Still, a move for Vidal could now be on, and the player is said to be determined to push through a move to the Premier League after having his head turned by the big money contract offer waiting for him at United.

Juventus will certainly be disappointed to lose such an important player, but will hope to ease the pain of his depature by bringing some new faces in, with two unwanted squad players at United believed to be in their sights.

Neither Hernandez nor Nani look likely to be first choice for Louis van Gaal’s side this season, but could prove useful signings for new Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri.