Stoke vs Manchester United Betting Tips

Stoke suffered a loss on Saturday courtesy of a late but great winner at home to Crystal Palace, but few would argue that they deserved to lose the match.

They controlled the game for large periods and certainly deserved a point from the match, although they did lack the flair that they showed in a 2-0 victory over Manchester City a couple of weeks before.

Stoke’s form is still pretty good coming into this match though, with four of their last seven matches in all competitions ending in victory and only two ending in defeat.

It’s much better than Manchester United’s form. Their opponents shockingly lost 2-1 at home to the struggling Norwich last weekend, a result which extended their winless streak to six games in all competitions.

Much was made in the opening stages of the season about Louis Van Gaal’s reluctance to play attacking football, but their solid defence couldn’t be faulted. Unfortunately for them it has faltered a lot recently. They have conceded seven goals in their last three matches, more than they had in the 12 games preceding this run.

This has understandably seen Louis Van Gaal’s position come under scrutiny, and he will apparently be shown the door should he lose to Stoke or Chelsea.

Neither of these are easy matches, and Stoke away from home is a formidable task at the best of times. It’s even worse when you’re out of form, and I think there’s a good chance that this game could be the Man United manager’s last game in charge.

Defensive trio Matteo Darmian, Marcos Rojo, and Luke Shaw remain injured, with Bastian Schweinsteiger suspended and Antonio Valencia also out injured.

Stoke will be without Shay Given, Marco Muniesa, Stephen Ireland, Peter Crouch, and Geoff Cameron.

Stoke are in an excellent position to improve their 11^th place position in the Premier League, and I think Manchester United will remain outside the top four after Boxing Day. Odds of 2.250 for a Stoke 0.0 Asian Handicap win are excellent value too, so I’m going for that along with a 1-0 correct score prediction at 8/1.