City have been dominant in their first seven games of the season, winning six and drawing one to set the early pace in the top flight. Their most significant triumph came last time out, when they got the better of defending champions Chelsea by a goal to nil at Stamford Bridge. It was a brilliant result and an even better performance from the 2014 title winners, who controlled the ball from start to finish and barely gave their esteemed opponents a sniff throughout the 90 minutes. It is vital that City do not get carried away at this early stage of the season, though, particularly as they amassed 18 points from a possible 18 at the start of last term but proved unable to sustain a championship challenge and ultimately finished a distant third. Having said that, the players and coaching staff are likely to have learned from the mistakes they made in 2016/17 and are undoubtedly in an excellent position heading into this weekend's clash in Manchester.
Stoke have had a rather mixed start to the campaign, accumulating eight points from a possible 21 so far to sit in 13th place in the table. Mark Hughes’ men performed well in a draw with Manchester United and victory over Arsenal at home, but they are still awaiting their first triumph on the road having being held by West Bromwich Albion and lost to both Everton and Newcastle United. A mid-table finish will be the target for Stoke this term, but they are unlikely to have earmarked this match as one in which they can realistically pick up a positive result.
Guardiola will have to make do without Sergio Aguero (rib), Benjamin Mendy (knee) and Vincent Kompany (calf), with Fabian Delph a doubt with a hamstring problem. The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich head coach will probably stick with a four-man backline, with Danilo set to start at left-back and Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones ready to resume their partnership in the centre. Fernandinho will anchor the midfield behind David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne, with Raheem Sterling, Leroy Sane and Gabriel Jesus in line to form a fast and fluid front three.
Stoke will be missing Joe Allen (concussion), Ryan Shawcross (back) and Stephen Ireland (broken leg), while Bruno Martins Indi will face a late fitness test as he battles to overcome a groin issue. Hughes will probably stick with his 3-4-2-1 formation, although there is a danger that Darren Fletcher and his midfield partner – likely to be either Charlie Adam, Geoff Cameron or Ibrahif Afellay in Allen’s absence – will get overrun in central areas. A forward trio of Jese Rodriguez, Xherdan Shaqiri and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting contains plenty of ability, though, and could cause a few problems if the Potters are able to get the ball forward to them often enough.
It is surely not a matter of who will win this weekend, but rather what City's margin of victory will be in front of their own supporters at the Etihad. For all their attacking quality, Guardiola's men have arguably been even more impressive defensively in the opening few weeks of the campaign (albeit in a typically proactive and front foot manner) and it may therefore be worth putting some money on a home win to nil in this one. As far as an anytime goalscorer is concerned, meanwhile, the in-form De Bruyne looks as good a bet as any.
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17
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+27.24%
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