Stoke City face Manchester City at bet365 Stadium on Saturday, August 20. Here’s all the info you need to watch.
Stoke City will be shorthanded for their home opener against Manchester City. Goalkeeper Jack Butland suffered an ankle injury last week and will be out of action, as will Xherdan Shaqiri, who has been dealing with a calf injury since preseason. In better news, Marko Arnautovic, who scored a brace in Stoke’s victory over City last year, has been declared fit and will play Saturday after experiencing some tightness in his thigh. Potters’ manager Mark Hughes will be hoping to extend his undefeated record against City’s new boss, Pep Guardiola — the two met once in a preseason match when Hughes coached City and Pep was at Barcelona.
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Manchester City enter the match in fine form following last week’s last-minute win over Sunderland and a 5-0 thrashing of Steaua Bucaresti in a Champions League qualifier. City will hope the rejuvenated play of Raheem Sterling continues. The talented but inconsistent winger of a year ago has impressed so far under Guardiola, earning penalty kicks in City’s last two games. The team looked tighter and more dangerous in Romania than they did at Sunderland, but away trips to Stoke are never a walk in the park for City, and there could be more uncertainty than usual with Willy Caballero in net over Joe Hart. Caballero has been the surprise starter in both games so far and could be again tomorrow.
The Premier League match between Stoke City and Manchester City will be broadcast live on NBCSN. Live streaming is available on NBC Sports App and Sling Blue, which you can access with your cable or satellite subscriptions, either online or through the NBC Sports App, or through a free trial from Sling Blue.
Date: Saturday, August 20
Start time: 7:30 a.m. ET
Location: Stoke-on-Trent, England
Stadium: bet365 Stadium
TV Info: NBC
Live Stream: NBCSports
This is an important game for Stoke, who were disappointing in the season-opener against newly-promoted Middlesbrough. But they could hardly have picked a more difficult opponent in and Guardiola’s new-look City team.