Stoke City v Manchester City: Can Owen gun down City on his debut?
Former England striker Michael Owen is ready to make his Stoke City debut this afternoon, but Manchester City will be looking to ruin his new start the way he ripped out their hearts at Old Trafford.
Owen failed to have a huge impact at the Theatre of Dreams but one memory that will live with his and every United fan will be his injury-time winner to deny City a share of the spoils in a seven-goal thriller. City fans won't forget it either and will be desperate to keep him quiet this afternoon.
Stoke go into this afternoon's clash still looking for their first win of the season. Peter Crouch's sensational strike last season ensured the Potters put City's title dreams on ice, and the visitors have failed to beat Stoke at the Britannia in the Premier League. With Crouch and Owen potentially leading the line today, could Mancini face his first defeat of the season?
The champions have not made the best of starts. Although they start the day in fourth place with seven points, their usually lock-tight defence has already shipped five goals and were fortunate to leave Anfield with a point after a below par performance.
The Britannia is never an easy place to go but City will be hoping to head up the M6 with all three points in the bag. Will that be the case? Our pundits certainly think so.
Stoke City v Manchester City; Kick Off 3pm September 15 2012
Prediction Panel
|
Arsenal |
Josh Ben Moshe |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Aston Villa |
Frank Pattison |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Chelsea |
Joe Tyler |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Everton |
Chris Goodwin |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Fulham |
Neil Springate |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Liverpool |
Dave Disciascio |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Man City |
Callum Rothwell |
0 |
V |
1 |
|
Man United |
Alex Richert |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Newcastle |
Greg Hall |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Norwich |
Sue Read |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
QPR |
John Jaycock |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Reading |
Jon Keen |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Southampton |
Andy Saunders |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Stoke City |
Jack Heaney |
0 |
V |
3 |
|
Sunderland |
Tony Ratton |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Swansea |
Jim Barry |
3 |
V |
3 |
|
Spurs |
Mike Richards |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
West Brom |
Andy Wakeman |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
West Ham |
Matt Beeby |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Wigan |
Jimmy Shine |
2 |
V |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
OUR EXPERTS |
|
|
|
|
|
Writer |
Colin Illingworth |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Writer |
Steve Coulter |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Writer |
Hugh Larkin |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Mitch Waddon |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Chris Pettitt |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Writer |
Sarshar Hossiennia |
0 |
V |
4 |
|
Blackburn fan |
Terry Kennedy |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Bolton fan |
David Blackburn |
1 |
V |
3 |
|
Boro fan |
Sue Gardener |
1 |
V |
4 |
|
Pompey fan |
Dan Taylor |
1 |
V |
1 |
|
Pompey fan |
Peter Rendle |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
West Ham fan |
Nigel Telfer |
1 |
V |
2 |
|
Wolves fan |
Chris Cox |
0 |
V |
2 |
|
Editor |
Antony Melvin |
0 |
V |
0 |
Panel Verdict
The champions are expected to ruin Owen’s potential debut.
Home: 0; Draw: 6; Away: 28.
* Do we have it right or do you know better? We’d love to hear from you.
For more Stoke articles, click here
For more Man City articles, click here
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