Brighter news as Sane and Gundogan return to training
Stoke City vs Manchester City
Competition: F.A. Premier League
Date: 12.30pm, Saturday 20th August 2016
Venue: Britannia Stadium, Stoke
Referee: Mike Dean Assistants: S Long, A Garratt Fourth Official: R East
Odds: Stoke 9/2, Draw 14/5, City 8/11
Tickets: Sold out
TV: Sky Sports
Stoke City
Manager: Mark Hughes
Squad (from): Given, Jaugaard, Bardsley, Pieters, Muniesa, Shawcross, Cameron, Wollscheid, Whelan. Adam, Imbula, Shaqiri, Arnautovic, Joselu, Diouf, Walters, Crouch, Bojan, Allen
Injured: Butland, Johnson, Ireland, Afellay
Doubtful: Shaqiri
Suspended: None
Form guide: DWLDL
Manchester City
Manager: Pep Guardiola
Squad (from): Caballero, Hart, Sagna, Kompany, Zabaleta, Kolarov, Mangala, Stones, Denayer, Clichy, Otamendi, Fernando, Nasri, Navas, De Bruyne, Delph, Silva, Fernandinho, Toure, Zinchenko, Sterling, Aguero, Iheanacho, Nolito, Bony
Injured: Gundogan, Sane, Kompany
Doubtful: Sagna
Suspended: None
Form guide: WDDLW
Bacary Sagna is a doubt for the trip to The Britannia, with Pep Guardiola confirming the French full back has a "little problem" that prevented him fron starting in Bucharest on Tuesday night. Ilkay Gundogan and Leroy Sane have returned to training, and are due to be available for selection after the international break, whilst Vincent Kompany is also on the road to recovery. Yaya Toure is likely to miss out once again, but Guardiola has left the door open for his return to the first team:
“Yaya is trying very well, he loves football. I spoke with him about his situation, he’s a player with huge quality and I’m really glad that his agent said I’m a good coach, ‘thank you, Dimitri’.
“I have adulation and respect for Yaya’s quality – when he increases his intensity without the ball, he will be involved.”
Guardiola is relishing the battle with Stoke, and seemed unconcerned by the prospect of harsh weather conditions at The Britannia tomorrow.
“We are going to try to fight for the title so we are going to try to adapt. We’re not going to complain that the pitch isn’t good. It’s 11 v 11 on the pitch. It’s my first time in my life at Stoke City and let’s go!
“In Germany, we didn’t always play on sunny days. We played in tough conditions as well there – in Spain, in Pamplona, in San Sebastian for example, the conditions are tough. We’re going to play in those conditions and OK, we’ll do it.”
City's last away game at The Britannia ended in a 2-0 defeat on Boxing Day 2015, with Marco Arnautovic getting the goals for the hosts. Overall City have won 48 of the 109 games played against Stoke, with 24 draws and 37 defeats.
Prediction: Stoke 1 City 1