Man City v Stoke City preview

Man City v Stoke City preview

Published Dec. 20, 2011 1:15 p.m. ET

Manchester City left-back Gael Clichy is available for the game after serving a one-game suspension. Striker Edin Dzeko is expected to be fit to feature despite suffering a knock in training but Aleksandar Kolarov (groin) is still out. Roberto Mancini has said he could make three or four changes so the likes of Joleon Lescott, Nigel de Jong and James Milner may return. Stoke look set to be without both Ryan Shawcross and Glenn Whelan. Shawcross is definitely out after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season in the 2-1 win at Wolves, while Whelan is also almost certain to miss out with a calf muscle injury suffered at Molineux. That means Wilson Palacios should make his first Premier League start of the season for the Potters, while Jonathan Woodgate is likely to return to the centre of defence in place of Shawcross with Andy Wilkinson likely to miss out again with a back problem. That would likely see Ryan Shotton at right-back, with Jermaine Pennant on the wing. Jon Walters is another injury doubt for Tony Pulis' side. Man City (from): Hart, Richards, Zabaleta, Lescott, K Toure, Kompany, Savic, Clichy, Milner, Johnson, Y Toure, Barry, Hargreaves, Nasri, Silva, Balotelli, Aguero, Dzeko, Pantilimon. Stoke (from): Sorensen, Huth, Wilson, Higginbotham, Shotton, Woodgate, Whelan, Etherington, Whitehead, Walters, Crouch, Begovic, Upson, Delap, Fuller, Palacios, Jerome, Jones, Pennant, Diao.

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