Manchester United Face An In Form Stoke City To Cement Third Place

Manchester United are currently three points ahead of Southampton at the third place on the league table. At the first Barclays Premier League match of the New Year they will take on an in form Stoke City FC to maintain that lead or stretch it a little further.

In the last five matches across all competitions Mark Hughes' Stoke City FC have won three, drawn one and lost the other. They have won their last two matches at home to West Bromwich Albion and away to Everton. Their last lost was at home to Chelsea. They started December with a crowd pleasing victory against Arsenal.

Louis van Gaal's Manchester United on the other hand have won three of their last five matches across all competitions. In their last two away matches they were held to a goal less and one all draw at Tottenham Hotspurs and Aston Villa respectively. Their last away win was at Southampton at the start of December.

Manchester United may have Angel Di Maria, Adnan Januzaj and Ander Herrera back for this game. Stoke City may have Phil Bardsley and Stephen Ireland back after injury. All five of them will have late fitness tests before they are selected by their respective managers.

In the last ten matches between these two teams, Manchester United have won eight matches, drawn one and lost the other. In the last four matches at the Britannia stadium Stoke City FC have won one match, drawn one and lost the other two. The last corresponding fixture between the two teams resulted in a two one victory to Stoke on Feb. 2nd 2014. The last time they met Manchester United defeated Stoke City FC by two goals to nil.

Both the teams will move on to FA Cup action after this league match. Stoke City FC will take on Wrexham FC at home while Manchester United FC will take on Yeovil Town FC away in their respective FA Cup third round fixtures.