Stoke City v Manchester United Betting Tips: Conservative first half in the Potteries

Despite the fact that Manchester United are undoubtedly the favourites for this match, Stoke City have been on a good run of late and will be confident of getting a result themselves.

That good run for Stoke has seen them win two and draw one of their last three games in all competitions, putting them 11th in the table and into the next round of the League Cup.

The Potters have been excellent at the back this season with two clean sheets in their four matches whilst they have still not conceded over 1.5 goals in a game. Having said that, apart from their 4-0 routing of League One Rochdale in the League Cup a few weeks ago, they have failed to produce the goods up front with just two Premier League goals scored so far this campaign.

The big cliché when talking about a foreign player adjusting to the English game is ‘could they do it on a cold night in Stoke?’. This slightly humorous saying is testament to Stoke’s home form in the Premier League over the last few years. The Potters have been known to take scalps against the big sides on their own patch – most recently against Arsenal. Furthermore, they went on an eight-match unbeaten run at home in the middle of last season which rescued them from a potentially disastrous season.

Manchester United have had a pulsating start to this campaign and are the only team in the top flight with a 100% record after three games.

Jose Mourinho’s men have been sublime at both ends of the pitch with no goals conceded so far and 10 goals scored – the best record in the Premier League. Some say that United have yet to be tested but that really is nitpicking.

The Red Devils’ only away match of the season so far resulted in a 4-0 win away at Swansea City. United’s away record was a comfort blanket for them last term as they took 35 points from 19 Premier League matches – compared with the 34 points taken at home. However, they will be incredibly wary going into this match at Stoke as they have failed to win a Premier League match in the Potteries since April 2013.

Although they are the favourites for this match, this will probably be United’s toughest game of the season so far and Stoke will be no pushovers. I think a good bet for this match is Half Time Score: 0-0 at 85/40. United may have scored 10 goals so far this campaign but it is interesting to note that only two of those have come in the first half. Furthermore, Stoke’s last two Premier League matches have been 0-0 at half time.