BBC football expert Mark Lawrenson has backed Manchester United to end their recent lean streak at the Bet365 Stadium. The Red Devils have not won in Staffordshire since Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season (2012-2013) in charge, but Lawro predicts United will put more of a fight than rivals Arsenal, who suffered a 1-0 defeat to Mark Hughes’ side last month.
“Stoke showed how difficult they are at home when they beat Arsenal, but United will put up far more of a fight. They have the players to impose themselves on Stoke, and leave with the points this time,” He said on BBC Sport.
Jose Mourinho’s side have already received an early boost for their trip to Stoke with Potters skipper Ryan Shawcross having pulled in training with another back problem.
Summer signing Kevin Wimmer is due to deputise for him in the Potters backline and this could put United in a fairly advantageous position with the Austrian having yet to gel with his teammates.
Coming to United, both Romelu Lukaku and Marcus Rashford were in fine form for Belgium and England respectively in the World Cup qualifiers, and they are in line to start in an attack which possesses the creativity of Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
The Armenian already has five league assists to his name this season, and he could match the Premier League record if he sets up another goal at Stoke on Saturday.
Both Thierry Henry and Cesc Fabregas have previously notched six assists in their first four outings – while featuring for Arsenal and Chelsea respectively.
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