Manchester United will enter Saturday's Premier League clash at Stoke City off the back of six games without a win in all competitions and with the pressure heavily building on head coach Louis van Gaal.
Stoke, on the other hand, lost at home to Crystal Palace last time out, but a solid first half to the 2015-16 campaign has left Mark Hughes's side in 11th position in the table, just six points behind their opponents on Boxing Day.
Stoke City
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Times are changing at Stoke, with head coach Hughes taking the team away from the style that became so famous under Tony Pulis and replacing it with a free-flowing brand of attacking football. The Potters did not actually win any of their first six league games this season, but have been in strong form in recent months and victory against Man United could move them as high as eighth depending on other results.
The attacking trident of Marko Arnautovic, Bojan Krkic and Xherdan Shaqiri were all in fine form when Stoke recorded a 2-0 win over Manchester City at the start of the month, while the Potters have also beaten Chelsea on home soil this term. They have only lost one of their last four Premier League matches at home to Man United.
That said, somewhat surprisingly, Stoke have actually only won one of their 14 Premier League matches against Man United, losing 11 times in the process. The Potters have also never kept a clean sheet against the Red Devils in the Premier League. Recent history suggests that this will be a tight game, however, with three of the last five matches between the pair being decided by the odd goal.
It will not come as too much of a surprise that Stoke have one of the best defensive records in the league, conceding just 16 times, which is two more than Man United. Only 14 have gone in at the other end, however, which makes them the joint-lowest scorers in the division, which seems strange when considering the talent they now have in the final third.
Hughes spoke in the build-up to this match about being wary of a "wounded" Man United, but Stoke, who have won six, drawn five and lost six of their 17 league games this season, will be confident of piling more pressure on Van Gaal as 2015 draws to a close.
Recent form: WWLWDL
Recent form (all competitions): WLWWDL
Man United
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An explosive press conference from Van Gaal on Wednesday further added to suggestions that the Dutchman is feeling the pressure ahead of what could be a season-defining match against Stoke. Van Gaal did not speak about injuries or the like in his main conference to the media and instead blasted reporters for running stories surrounding his position at the club.
"Has anybody in this room not a feeling to apologise to me? That's what I am wondering," asked Van Gaal on Wednesday in a press conference that lasted just five minutes. It took some of the attention away from his team's recent form, which has seen them go winless in their last six games in all competitions. They are out the Champions League and League Cup and will enter the Boxing Day clash fifth in the Premier League table.
The Red Devils are level on points with fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, but currently sit nine points off the leaders Leicester City and seven behind second-placed Arsenal, who are seen as the favourites to win the title. Man United have lost each of their last two games in the league, including a 2-1 home defeat to Norwich City last weekend.
Not since November 21 have they collected all the points in England's top flight and that was courtesy of a late Troy Deeney own-goal at Watford. Since then, they have drawn against Leicester and West Ham United, in addition to losing at Bournemouth and as mentioned, at home to Norwich.
It has been claimed that Van Gaal could lose his job if another defeat occurs against Stoke, but Man United have won 18 of their last 19 fixtures on Boxing Day. What's more, the last time that the club went on a six-game winless run in all competitions was during their treble-winning 1998-99 campaign.
The treble will not occur this time around, but Van Gaal will be looking for a morale-boosting win ahead of the clash with Chelsea on December 28.
Recent form: WWDDLL
Recent form (all competitions): DDDLLL
Team News
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Stoke will be without the likes of Geoff Cameron, Marc Muniesa and Shay Given for the clash at the Britannia, while Peter Crouch, who has struggled for football this season, will also miss the match through injury.
Hughes has no fresh injury concerns, however, and must decide whether to bring Jonathan Walters and Charlie Adam back into the starting XI after both started the Palace defeat on the bench.
It is expected to be the same front three - Bojan, Shaqiri and Arnautovic - while Mame Biram Diouf will also be hopeful of earning a place in the team against his former club.
As for Man United, Bastian Schweinsteiger is still suspended, while Jesse Lingard and Matteo Darmian remain on the sidelines, but the latter has a chance of facing Chelsea on Monday.
Marcos Rojo and Luke Shaw remain unavailable for selection, meaning that Van Gaal has few options at the back. Morgan Schneiderlin, however, is expected to return to the middle of the park.
Wayne Rooney should also start despite his troubles this term, and the England captain has scored on Boxing Day in each of the last two seasons.
Stoke possible starting lineup:
Rutland; Johnson, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters; Whelan, Adam; Arnautovic, Bojan, Shaqiri; Walters
Man United possible starting lineup:
De Gea; Young, Jones, Smalling, Blind; Schneiderlin, Carrick; Depay, Mata, Martial; Rooney
Head To Head
As mentioned, Stoke have won just one of their 14 Premier League matches against Man United, losing 11 times in the process.
The Potters have only lost one of their last four at home to the Reds, however, and the points were shared in a 1-1 draw last season.
In terms of the more recent meetings, Man United have won three of the last five games all competitions, with Stoke winning once and the further clash ending in a share of the spoils.
We say: Stoke 1-2 Man United
The form book suggests that it will be difficult for Man United to win this game, but with the pressure on Van Gaal and a number of crisis meetings taking place this week, this could be the match where the 20-time English champions stand up to be counted.
Stoke will be confident of securing a result, but that could play into the hands of the visitors, who we are backing to end their poor run with three vital points.
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