Man Utd v Stoke predictions

Match	Date	Selection	Bet	Odds	Bet now
Man Utd v Stoke predictions Premier League England, England	20/10/2012 16:00	asian handicap	Man Utd -1.5	1.95	Bet at 188bet
Betting prediction was written by Matt

Man Utd v Stoke predictions and preview: Betting stats

Man Utd sit 2^nd in the Premier League on 15 pts (W5 D0 L2) with a recent form record of WWWLW. At Old Trafford they have two wins, against Fulham and Wigan, and a defeat against Spurs. Their games average 3.71 goals this season with all but one exceeding 2.5 goals. Interestingly their home games average 4.67 goals with an average first goal conceded time of just 2 minutes!

Stoke currently sit 12^th on 8 points at a record a W1 D5 L1, clearly one of the draw specialists of the league so far. Away from home they have a record of drawn 3 lost 1. They have scored the third fewest goals and conceded the joint second fewest so needless to say their games have averaged the least goals; just 1.57 per game. Only one of their games has had over 2.5 goals.

In terms of head-to-head record, these sides have met 33 times at Old Trafford. I think the statistics from those meeting aren’t too relevant as most were over 30 years ago. Since Stoke returned to the top flight in 2008 Man Utd have beaten them in all four meetings in Manchester (5-0, 4-0, 2-1, 2-0). Stoke have only managed one draw in this time and that was at the Britannia.

Team News and Run of Play

Man Utd could welcome back Chris Smalling and Ashley Young to the squad as both look set to recover from fairly long-term injuries. Jones and Vidic remain out for the foreseeable future and De Gea should continue in goal as Lindegaard picked up a knock and Sir Alex Ferguson looks to rotate the two keepers. Stoke have a fairly clean bill of health with just Glenn Whelan and Michael Owen missing. The latter will want to recover from the knock he picked up before the Liverpool game in order to face another of his former sides.

Man Utd haven’t exactly been firing on all cylinders this season. They have already picked up two defeats and continuing at that rate would surely lead to a failing title bid. Their first real test at home was against Spurs and they weren’t up to the task of beating them. Van Persie and Rooney have clicked well but the goals have all been for the Dutchman. Rooney needs to up the goal rate for United. Their slightly fragile defence hasn’t been helped by injuries left, right and mainly centre but they are slowly returning to fitness.

Stoke are the league’s draw specialists. 5 of their 7 games have ended in stalemates and I really don’t think Tony Pulis cares about the criticism his side might be receiving. They have a game plan against the big sides and they stick to it. They sit back and absorb the pressure, forcing teams into long balls which are easily dealt with time and again. They will play this way against Man Utd and hope that they can either keep their fourth clean sheet of the season or limit them to just a solitary goal.

It is clear that United will keep the ball for extended periods in this game and look to slowly break down the dogged Stoke defence with intricate passes at the right time. Scholes and Cleverley will sit and dictate play while Kagawa will probably provide the link between them and the frontline. The Japanese international will be a key player in this game. Stoke may resort to the long ball up to Peter Crouch knowing he can get a goal from nowhere and that the United defence will be missing their big Serbian centre back. Jonny Evans might not cope with Crouch’s height.

Man Utd v Stoke predictions: 1X2 betting preview

It’s safe to say that Stoke will try their best to prevent a United win here. But Sir Alex will have let his players know they need to give the fans something to cheer after the last home performance. I suspect this game hinges on the time of the first United goal. If it’s early then Stoke may need to chase the game a little and that could end badly for them. Man Utd should win this game.

If you agree that Man Utd have bouncebackability then you can follow me to BetVictor and back them at 1.30.

Man Utd v Stoke predictions: Asian Handicap preview

For me this is quite a difficult one to call. As mentioned above it really does depend on the first goal. If it comes early then Man Utd (-1.5) looks a bet at 1.95 with 188bet but if you see them struggling to get through Stoke’s wall of a defence then Stoke (+1.5) at 2.01 with Pinnacle would be your bet. For me it’s too difficult to call.

If you can see United winning by 2 or more, bet it at 188bet.

Man Utd v Stoke predictions: Total Goals preview

I think it’s clear from above that this game is not an easy one to predict the amount of goals. Therefore we must look for the value. For me the value in the over/under 2.5 goals market lies with under. You can back at 2.40 with BetVictor if you think there will be 2 or fewer goals in this tie.

Click here if you fancy under 2.5 goals with BetVictor.