Man City may still be eight points off top spot (at time of writing) but they have been on a fantastic run recently and are now nine matches unbeaten, winning seven of their last eight. They are five points clear of the dreaded 5th place and so Champions League football now almost looks a certainty for next season.
Everybody knows that Pep Guardiola’s side are sensational going forward and it is no surprise that they have scored 12 goals in their last three matches in all competitions. There are still a few question marks over the defence but it is well worth noticing that City have kept five clean sheets in their last eight in all competitions.
The Citizens actually have a pretty poor home record in the Premier League with the likes of Burnley and West Bromwich Albion accumulating more points on home turf than City have at the Etihad. However, Guardiola’s men look pretty unstoppable at the moment, including at home with three consecutive wins and no defeats since 3rd December 2016.
Stoke managed to recover from their 4-0 thrashing away at Tottenham Hotspur to collect three precious points against Middlesbrough last time out, pushing them up to 9th in the table. Additionally, the Potters are actually one of the league’s most in form teams at the moment with 14 points taken from the last eight games.
Apart from that rather humiliating loss to Spurs, Stoke have been pretty steady at the back recently with two clean sheets either side of that result. Unfortunately though they are quite impotent going forward with just four goals scored in the last five games and a total of just 32 in 27 matches.
Mark Hughes’s side have been dreadful on their travels, both recently and over the course of the season. The Potters have taken points in just one of their last six away matches and overall have accumulated 12 in 13 Premier League games away from the Bet365 Stadium.
The City win here is pretty obvious and so any bet you have should involve them. The bet that does stand out is ‘Manchester City to Win to Nil’ at 23/20. Guardiola’s team have dramatically improved at the back in the last few weeks whilst Stoke really struggle to score goals, particularly away from home.
Click here to read Wednesday’s Champions League tips.