please log in to view this image Stoke City v Manchester City please log in to view this image http://www.wiziwig.tv/broadcast.php?matchid=147007&part=sports Streams will appear 1 hour before the start of the match. 25 stations have announced they will broadcast this match. please log in to view this image TEAM NEWS Stoke winger Matthew Etherington is fit to return from an ankle injury to face Manchester City. Salif Diao misses out with a hamstring problem so Glenn Whelan will deputise, while Ricardo Fuller completes a ban. Manchester City hope to have captain Vincent Kompany (hamstring) back to boost their defensive options but the game will come too early for fellow defender Joleon Lescott (groin). Carlos Tevez is again expected to be named on the substitutes' bench. With 13 minutes to go on Wednesday night it wasn't looking too clever for Manchester City, was it? One-nil down at home to Chelsea, they were facing the prospect of falling four points off the pace at the top of the table. A Sergio Aguero penalty and a Samir Nasri winner later and here we are with the title race still at fever pitch. Amid all the talk of a "winner-takes-all Derby D-day" on April 30 it would be easy to forget that both City and United each have nine matches still to negotiate. A quarter of the season has yet to play itself out and while it would be thrilling to see them neck and neck going into the Manchester derby at the end of next month, it wouldn't be the Premier league if we didn't have some drama and the odd twist and turn between now and then. This match is a case in point. Stoke City have yet to lose at home to any of the top five this season. They beat Tottenham and drew with both Manchester United and Chelsea, while Arsenal don't travel to the Britannia until next month. Manchester City haven't won here since Stoke gained promotion to the Premier League four years ago. Roberto Mancini's team also lost an FA Cup tie on this ground in 2010 - although famously gained revenge on the Potters by beating them in the final at Wembley last season to lift the trophy. Tony Pulis's current side ultimately had to settle for a hard-earned point at Tottenham during the week and have won their last two home matches, keeping a clean sheet in each of them. Manchester City have lost two of their last three in the league away from the Etihad, at Everton and Swansea. It goes without saying they can ill-afford a slip up here. I imagine we'll see Carlos Tevez at some point now he's back on the scene after what Sir Alex Ferguson described as a "five-month holiday in Argentina". Whatever you think of him and the way in which he's conducted himself, he's a difference maker and illustrated the fact by setting up the winning goal for Nasri on Wednesday. A few impact cameos from him might make all the difference in tight games. Anyway, the last goal he scored for City came against Stoke at the tail-end of last season at the Etihad when he netted twice in a 3-0 win. The reverse fixture this season ended in a 3-0 home win, with Manchester City enjoying an incredible 76% of possession, while Stoke didn't manage a single shot on goal. I'd be surprised if this game is anything like that. And finally, with the title race so tight some fans might be looking for any sign or omen on behalf of their team. In this case I can tell you that the two clubs have met on this date twice before and Manchester City won on both occasions: 4-2 at Maine Road in 1934 and 2-0 at their first home of Hyde Road in 1906. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17412553
please log in to view this image With regards to team selection, Vincent Kompany has tweeted that this match has come too soon in terms of his recovery from injury, so he will be sidelined alongside Joleon Lescott. Mancini is notoriously fond of rotating his fullbacks, so Aleks Kolarov could replace Gael Clichy, but Micah Richards looks set to continue in central defence alongside Kolo Touré. Gareth Barry, whose presence in the second half against Chelsea gave us added solidity, could well start this game, but David Silva is likely to be on the bench. His form recently has been well below-par and with him carrying an ankle injury, a rest may prove beneficial. Carlos Tévez is not yet ready to play from the off and Mario Balotelli could be dropped following his very average display on Wednesday, so Edin Dzeko, whose extra height would be of great use, is a candidate to lead the line. For Stoke, mercurial striker Ricardo Fuller is suspended, but Matty Etherington has recovered from an ankle knock and is available for selection. In the attacking department, Jon Walters is likely to partner Peter Crouch, so our defence certainly have a challenge on their hands to combat that forward duo. http://www.newsnow.co.uk/A/557966122?-1808
Be a difficult game, hoping they can hold you to a draw but my honest prediction is 2-0 city. Come on Stoke!!
This is going to be one hell of a hard game. Stoke are one of the hardest teams to play away from home. Mancini needs to get the team right tomorrow. I would leave out Balotelli, Silva and Clichy from the team who played against Chelsea and replace them with Dzeko, Milner and Kolarov. And PLEASE no Savic, this again is not a game to be messing around in. If we were at home I wouldn't mind, we've seen how useless Stoke have been on the past two visits to the Etihad, but at home they are tough opposition. Richards and Kolo did a good job on Wednesday, as did Zaba at RB, stick with that. The only reason I would leave Clichy out in favour of Kolarov is height. Stoke play it in the air and Clichy isn't going to win anything against the likes of Crouch.
Yet again Balotelli coasts through a game and does nothing for the team, a ****ing waster, i think its time RM had a serious think about his future with us his attitude stinks. What the **** was RM thinking leaving it so late to make the changes, that was one of the most frustrating games i have watched, thank **** Yaya got the deflection, the only good thing about today's performance.
Can't understand why he took so long to put Tevez on! Dzeko and Mario may as well have been in the stands, both did nothing all game. Milner should have come on for Silva at half time I reckon too, Silva clearly wasn't at it and Milner would have been a lot more useful second half. Why isn't Milner playing recently though? What's he done to piss Mancini off? Doesn't seem to be getting much game time at all. Wasn't impressed with the ref. Some of the Stoke players were going in with elbows, kicking the **** out of our lot and they get away with it. Then Barry gets booked for an absolute nothing challenge! Zaba deserves a mention for that goal line clearance in the first half, thought they'd scored. Top player Zaba, always gives 100% and a class act, can't fault him. I was disappointed when we sold Corluka and replaced him with Zaba, but very good work from Sven (I think it was Sven). Fair play to Crouch though, has to be goal of the season. Incredible strike. Why do it against us though?!
Haydn Elbows? I hope you watched MOTD when it was shown that it was an arm. I do not recall Stoke kicking the xxxx out of Citeh players! Barry was booked for pulling back a player by his neck! And certainly we could have had a penalty for the poor challenge by Barry which Viera conveniently forgets about. I thought overall a draw was a fair result and wish you success in your goal of winning the PL.
I thought I saw one incident where a Stoke player elbowed a City player (Balotelli?). Maybe I'm wrong but looked like an elbow from the angle I saw it. I don't think it was a pen with the Barry incident. Not arguing about the result though mate it took us a deflection to get a draw in the end. That Crouch goal was worthy of winning any game!
Haydn I did not see anybody elbowing Balotelli. Perhaps if they did he may have played with a bit more fire. I thought that Whelan was taken out having passed to Walters but did not see it until in slow motion until MOTD. Best of luck for the rest of the season.
To be honest I shouldn't really comment on the Barry thing. I didn't notice it during the game and didn't pick up on it at all because I had the computer on silent when I was streaming the match. I saw it once on MOTD/SSN, can't remember which, and I couldn't see much wrong but I haven't properly had a look. I've just searched on google and it wasn't Balotelli who was elbowed, but Silva. From Whitehead. If you search "whitehead elbow silva" there are a few results displayed from numerous websites, some neutral and some City related, so it isn't just me who saw it as an elbow.
