Manchester City vs Stoke City: Predictions for the Clash of the FA Cup Finalists

After an exhilarating, but ultimately exhausting victory over Arsenal on Sunday, Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini will likely rotate his squad for the visit of Stoke City on December 21. 

Boxing Day sees the Blues head to The Hawthorns, before a New Year's Day trip to the Stadium of Light. The Christmas calendar is rounded off by the visit of Liverpool to the Etihad Stadium.

Rotation will be vital in this period, with fresh legs preventing the team from growing stale or tired in what is a draining period of the season.

As the old cliché goes, 'You can't win the league at Christmas, but you can lose it'.

With Owen Hargreaves and Aleksandar Kolarov returning to full training on Tuesday morning, Mancini now has a fully fit squad at his disposal. The lack of injuries can be attributed in part to the squad depth available at Eastlands.

Stoke present a formidable physical threat, so it is likely that Joleon Lescott, Edin Dzeko and Nigel de Jong will start after being reduced to cameo appearances at the weekend.

Adam Johnson and James Milner will be chomping at the bit to start and Gael Clichy returns from a one-match suspension.

Johnson represents the biggest enigma in the current City squad, with his blistering super-sub appearances versus tired legs extremely effective. He has sometimes struggled to impose himself upon games when starting, but against a team without natural full-backs, Mancini could unleash the England winger to full effect.

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Predicted Lineup

 

Joe Hart

 

Micah Richards, Vincent Kompany, Joleon Lescott, Gael Clichy

 

Nigel de Jong, Yaya Toure

 

Adam Johnson, David Silva, James Milner

 

Edin Dzeko

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Flair and physicality will be needed to best a stubborn Stoke side. The introduction of Lescott seems an obvious one with his superior heading ability to Kolo Toure.

Pablo Zabaleta could count himself extremely unlucky to see himself back on the bench after an impressive marshalling of Theo Walcott, but Clichy's superior attacking prowess allows the Etihad pitch to become extremely stretched, something with which Stoke and their narrow Britannia pitch struggle with.

As for the opposition, Stoke City themselves could very possibly see fresh faces in the starting 11 as they prepare for a Christmas period which sees them play eminently more winnable fixtures against Aston Villa on Boxing Day, Wigan Athletic on December 31 and Blackburn Rovers on January 2.

Since the beginning of the season, managers have now been given full licence to make as many changes to their first team using members of the club's submitted 25-man squad; Tony Pulis could well make full use of this ruling in order to preserve fitness within key positions.

Rotation in the Europa League has seen the club progress to the knockout stages, and the Stoke manager will look to continue this winning formula even if ending the home team's 100 percent record at the Etihad is unlikely.

Key defender and club captain Ryan Shawcross is suspended due to picking up his fifth booking of the season during the 1-0 victory over Wolves last weekend, while Glen Whelan will sit out the match with a calf injury sustained at Molineux.

Wilson Palacios looks set to replace Whelan in what would be the Honduran's first league start for the Potters.

Kenwyne Jones and Cameron Jerome could replace Peter Crouch and Jon Walters in an effort to freshen up the front-line.

At the back it seems a question of whether to start Matthew Upson at centre-back and Jonathan Woodgate at right-back.

Woodgate in particular has been a problematic player for Stoke fans this season, with early promise degrading into farce, as injuries appear to have stripped the one-time England defender of his pace and ability, sadly leaving him half the player he was in his prime.

Lucky to not to collect a second yellow after conceding a penalty at Molineux, the defender was then substituted in just the 19^th minute of the match.

Manchester City famously beat Stoke in the 2010/11 FA Cup final, but the two teams also met the next week in a league encounter.

Naturally deflated and with little to play for, Stoke were easily turned over by the Champions League chasing Manchester City.

The circumstances both clubs find themselves in now are considerably different, but it is easy to see the 3-0 scoreline being repeated as Roberto Mancini's men look to increase their lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League.