Two of the form teams in the Premier League, this game sees one of the stingiest defences come up against one of the league’s most potent away teams.
Stoke City have conceded only 14 goals so far this season—which is tied for third place in the Premier League behind Manchester United (12) and Arsenal (13), and tied with Tottenham Hotspur—and have kept seven clean sheets in their last nine Premier League outings.
Stoke are also playing with another impressive run having not conceded a single goal while captain Ryan Shawcross is on the pitch—a run that has now stretched to 497 minutes. But now after a wobbly start, Stoke’s performances in front of goal is starting to pick up as well, with Xherdan Shaqiri, Bojan Krkić, and Marko Arnautović all rounding into impressive form as the fixture list picks up over the festive period—as evidenced by their untroubled 2-0 victory over Manchester City two weeks ago.
On the other side of this contest, Crystal Palace are riding a wave of momentum and are sitting pretty in sixth place, level with Spurs on 26 points and only three points behind Manchester United. One of the best away teams in the league—with four wins from seven on the road—Palace should prove a heady test for Stoke at the Britannia Stadium and a real threat to the Potters’ parsimonious defence.
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<p>With injuries throughout the team to players like Alexis Sánchez, Francis Coquelin, and Santi Cazorla, Arsenal’s form has remained steady. Perhaps this is a new Arsenal? In recent years, tasked with needing to win by two clear goals against Olympiakos, Arsenal would have been expected to fight, but ultimately come up short in their attempts to qualify. Instead, this year, Arsenal have shown a resolve to bounce back from adversity and poor performances.</p>
<p>Despite their dismantling at the hands of Stoke two weeks ago, Manchester City have looked like a consistent potent attacking threat for large swathes of this season, but unfortunately for them, it is the defence that is the prevalent issue. In Vincent Kompany’s absence, Nicolás Otamendi and Martín Demichelis have not shown that they possess the ability to marshal a title-winning defence in the Premier League. With talk of Kompany being rushed back in time for this fixture, City fans will be praying that this will not result in a protracted spell on the sidelines for the influential skipper.</p>
<p>Up front though, with Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Agüero in the team, they should be able to threaten the Arsenal back line.</p>
<p>The title won’t be won at the Emirates on Monday night under the floodlights, but the winning side will go one more step towards it and cast a big psychological advantage in the process.</p><!—pageview_candidate—></p>">