Stoke City vs Manchester City

STOKE CITY Sorensen Whitehead, Huth, Shawcross, Cameron Whelan, Adam, Nzonzi, Etherington Walters, Crouch

MANCHESTER CITY Pantilimon Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov Garcia, Barry Nasri, Aguero, Silva Dzeko

   

Stoke City boss Tony Pulis could make a couple of changes from the side which lost to Swansea, with Thomas Sorensen likely to be given a chance to impress in goal.

Cameron Jerome and Kenwyne Jones are both pushing for starts but Jonathan Walters and Peter Crouch are likely to retain their starting berths - with the latter usually impressing against City.

Rory Delap (hernia) and Marc Wilson (broken leg) both remain sidelined.

As for the visitors, Roberto Mancini is also likely to change his goalkeeper, with Costel Pantilimon set to replace Joe Hart between the sticks.

Joleon Lescott and Aleksandar Kolarov could also be handed rare starts whilst Samir Nasri and Jack Rodwell remain in contention.

Further forward, Sergio Aguero is likely to get an opportunity to boost his fitness levels, possibly in place of fellow Argentine Carlos Tevez, while Mario Balotelli is again set to be on the bench.

Right-back duo Maicon and Micah Richards (knee injuries) are both still out.