Man Utd v Stoke: Betting Preview & Tips

Man Utd v Stoke

It’s a vital game that very quickly could turn into a damp squib. Betfair’s Dan ‘The Betting Man’ Fitch believes that Manchester United will easily beat Stoke, but still end up disappointed.

Like a condemned man on death row, all Manchester United can do now is hope for some divine intervention to prevent the inevitable, as they painfully chew upon a last meal of Stoke City.

It promises to be a strange match on Sunday, as most United fans (including those at Old Trafford) will be more interested in events at Stamford Bridge.

These days, any news of developments elsewhere, tends to spread very quickly. Expect a dull murmur to spread around United’s famous old stadium, should Chelsea take a lead against Wigan.

Under these circumstances, all United can do is deal with the task at hand, by beating Stoke City. Even though their minds will be elsewhere, the players are experienced enough in these situations to be expected to do a professional job and win comfortably.

This is especially true against a visiting team like Stoke, who have finished very comfortably in mid-table and have nothing to really play for. Add to the fact that Tony Pulis’ side’s success story isn’t built on a great away record and there is no reason to doubt that United will win quite comfortably.

Indeed, Stoke’s win at an even more uninterested Fulham in midweek, was only their fourth away victory of the season. This poor record is somewhat explained by the fact that Stoke have only scored 10 away goals this season, which is a figure that every team in the Premier League has bettered, except for relegated Portsmouth.

Stoke were on the wrong end of a 7-0 drubbing when they visited Chelsea recently and United have one player in particular, who will be keen to instigate a similarly comprehensive scoreline.

Wayne Rooney was pretty much single-handedly inspiring his United team to the title, until his injury disrupted things. The title may be beyond his team, but there’s a personal honour at stake for Rooney, who is tied at 26 goals with Didier Drogba, as they battle to be named as the Premier League’s top scorer.

Rooney is 2.16 to beat Drogba and can be backed at 3.28 to score first against Stoke, with a price of 1.61 available for him to score at any time. Dimitar Berbatov is 4.7 and 2.25, while for Stoke, Ricardo Fuller leads the betting at 19.1 and 6.7.

It looks as if Alex Ferguson will welcome Rio Ferdinand back to his defence, while he could also give a start to Owen Hargreaves. Antonio Valencia is ruled out with an ankle injury.

Stoke are still without Abdoulaye Faye and Thomas Soresen, but otherwise are able to name the same side that won at Fulham on Wednesday.

Since Stoke were promoted to the Premier League, they have lost all three of their encounters with Manchester United and have failed to score a goal. On their visit to Old Trafford last season, Stoke were beaten 5-0.

This perhaps explains the price of just 1.57 for over 2.5 goals, with unders at 2.72. I can’t recommend overs at that price, especially as the atmosphere could quickly become subdued at Old Trafford.

Nor can I recommend the 1.14 available for a United victory, with the draw at 10.0 and Stoke at 30.0. The odds of United to be winning half time/full time are also slim pickings at 1.51.

In the correct score market, 2-0 to United is 6.6, with 3-0 at 7.4 and 4-0 at 9.4. A United clean sheet is 1.61, which is actually pretty good value considering Stoke’s away record.

Finally, in the most important market of them all, United are at 9.2 to win the title. Don’t go near that unless you believe in miracles.

Recommended Bets:

• Back Wayne Rooney to score first @ 3.28;
• Back a United clean sheet @ 1.61;
• Back 3-0 @ 7.4.

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