Manchester City travel to the Britannia Stadium on Saturday to take on Stoke City as the Manuel Pellegrini's men look to keep the pressure on Manchester United ahead of the Manchester Derby next week. The 2011/12 Champions League winners have had a mixed start to their campaign, winning two while succumbing to a shock 3-2 defeat the hands of newly promoted Cardiff City.

Manuel Pellegrini
Reuters

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 3pm BST. Live audio will be available on BBC Stoke Radio from 2pm BST.Highlights of the game will be available on BBC One from 10:30pm BST.

Overview

Stoke City have started their campaign brightly, winning two of their last three games and are level on points with the league giants. Their only loss was against Liverpool in their opening game of the season where they spurned a brilliant opportunity to come back on level terms at the end of the game where Jonathan Walters missed a penalty to bring the Potters level. However, they have recovered well under new manager Mark Hughes and will be looking to extend their two game unbeaten run.

Their last game ended in a 1-0 win against West Ham where former Arsenal man Jermaine Pennant came from the bench to score a winner late in the second half. A whole hearted performance against City will give them confidence and a great chance of finishing the top half of the table, something which has eluded them in recent years.

Manchester City will have one eye on their Champions League game against Viktoria Plzen in midweek but will be confident of pulling one over the Potters. Pellegrini has to make sure that their players do not falter in their concentration, something which has cost them in recent games. Their last game ended in a 2-0 win over Hull City but the league giants made hard work for themselves and were lucky to scrape through at the end of the day.

What the Managers Say

Mark Hughes (On Steven Nzonzi's reported accident): "I asked Steven about it. A situation developed but I don't think he has done anything wrong. I don't want to make any more comment."

Manuel Pellegrini: "We have to play seven games in 21 days, so the most important thing is not the 11 that start, but the performance of each player in every game. All the players we have, if they give a high performance, have the option to play."

Form Guide

Stoke City

  • Last Five(all competitions, most recent first): W W W L W
  • Last Result: West Ham 0 - 1 Stoke City

Manchester City

  • Last Five(all competitions, most recent first): W L W L L
  • Last Result: Manchester City 2 -0 Hull City

Team News

Stoke City

Injured: Charlie Adam (back), Kenwyne Jones (ankle), Glenn Whelan (hamstring).

Suspended: N/A

Doubtful: N/A

Probable Line-up: Begovic; Cameron, Shawcross, Huth, Pieters; Arnautovic, N'Zonzi, Ireland, Etherington; Walters; Jones.

Manchester City

Injured: Martin Demichelis (knee), Vincent Kompany (groin), Micah Richards (hamstring),David Silva (thigh), Gael Clichy (unspecified).

Suspended: N/A

Doubtful: N/A

Probable Line-up: Hart; Zabaleta, Nastasic, Lescott, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Touré, Milner; Nasri, Negredo, Agüero.

Manchester United FC