Opposition View: Stoke v Manchester City
Ahead of Saturday’s trip to the Britannia, where Pep Guardiola will get experience of a warm Saturday afternoon in Stoke, we spoke to The Sentinel’s Peter Smith about what the new manager can expect during his trip to Staffordshire.
1. How did Stoke perform in their opening day fixture against Middlesbrough?
Certainly better in the first half than the second. It was a poor goal to concede and nice free-kick to equalise in a game of few chances. There are positive early signs. Arnautovic, Shaqiri and Bojan are all showing glimpses of their potential and Giannelli Imbula is excitingly enigmatic in central midfield. Hughes hopes a new mainline striker will be the final piece in the jigsaw.
2. Mark Hughes has been fairly quiet in the transfer market so far, bar the signing of Joe Allen. Do you think it’s a problem that he hasn’t made many additions this summer?
Hughes didn’t think there was a need for wholesale changes. The key thing this summer has to get his main men fit. Butland, Shawcross and Bojan all missed great chunks of last season through injury. Glen Johnson too – and he’s out again this weekend. There were still a couple of areas identified – and top of the list was that elusive 15-goal centre-forward. It’s no secret they see that man as Saido Berahino but the ball is in West Brom’s court and it might go all the way to the wire. There’s clamour for a new centre-half too given Shawcross’s recent injury record and Marc Wilson leaving for Bournemouth.
3. Which players should City be watching out for on Saturday?
Hopefully the same as last year’s match at Stoke: Shaqiri, Arnautovic and Bojan. Arnautovic has brilliant control but it’s his upper body strength that must make him a nightmare to defend against … on his day. Bojan is looking brighter again after a nasty knee injury knocked him off course and Shaqiri can pull off the unexpected. Keep an eye out for Imbula too. He’s not your archetypal defensive midfielder. He’ll try to take on anyone, anywhere.
4. Do Stoke have any major injury concerns ahead of the match?
Butland is a doubt with scar tissue damage in the ankle he fractured on England duty last spring. That’s particularly bad timing because he’s trying to stake a claim for Joe Hart’s England shirt. Johnson hasn’t played a competitive game since February, with a thigh problem following to a knee injury from last season. He was going great guns at right-back after joining from Liverpool and gives the team a different dimension. Fingers crossed he’s back next week. Joe Allen could make his full debut after being eased in following his Euro 2016 exertions.
5. Under Pep Guardiola, City are expected to have the majority of possession. Will Stoke try to absorb the pressure and let City pass it around, or do you expect the Potters to bring a high tempo pressing style to the game?
It’s not entirely obvious. To be fair, Man City were expected to have the lion’s share of possession at the Brit last year so Hughes used Bojan as a false nine. He had a trio of midfielders – Geoff Cameron, Ibrahim Afellay and Glenn Whelan – packed in central midfield to pile pressure, especially on David Silva. It worked, with Shaqiri and Arnautovic exploiting the spaces as Pellegrini pushed into pretty much a 2-7-1 in an attempt to force the issue. But Guardiola’s team will be much more disciplined defensively, perhaps like Spurs were when they exposed Stoke’s false nine 4-0 back in April. It leaves Hughes with a couple of big decisions. He’d like to get his team trying to play with gusto … but David Moyes might have set a tactically pragmatic blueprint, even in tight defeat. Keep your lines tight and stay patient for the opportunity to counter attack.
6. And finally, what is your score prediction for the match?
It could be anything but I’ll go 1-1.