Good afternoon and welcome to Sports Mole's live coverage of today's Premier League match between Stoke City and Manchester City at the Britannia Stadium.
Stoke have made a distinctly average start to the new season, drawing all of their opening three games.
Manchester City, meanwhile, have won two of their three games so far this season, only dropping points against Liverpool. The champions have a poor record at the Britannia, however, failing to win in their last five visits.
Both sides could field debutants for the match, with Michael Owen in line for a place on the bench for the hosts while City could start Maicon and Javi Garcia.
Please note that kickoff is at 3pm.
5.02pmRight, that's it from me today! Thanks for joining me, and stay tuned for analysis from this match which should be on site within half an hour! Also stay tuned for coverage of Sunderland's match against Liverpool!
4.59pmThat makes it eight points from a possible 12 for City at the start of the season then, while Stoke are still undefeated, and still looking for their first win as they draw their opening four games for the first time ever.
4.58pmSo, Stoke get a point that they will be delighted with, especially considering how close they came to a heartbreaking defeat at the end there. City, meanwhile, won't be too disheartened with a draw at the Britannia, but would have expected to win the game.
4.55pmThat was the last kick of the match. What a finish! City were literally inches from grabbing all three points, but what a clearance from Shawcross. No need for goalline technology there!
90+3 minFULL TIME Stoke 1-1 Manchester City
90+3 minCHANCE! Dzeko so nearly steals all three points for City as he pokes the ball past Begovic in the last minute but Shawcross hurls himself heroically towards his own goal to clear the ball off his line, saving the Potters from the jaws of defeat.
90+1 minCHANCE! What a save from Begovic! The corner finds the head of Javi Garcia, but the debutant is denied by a fantastic save!
90+1 minClichy races down the left and pulls the ball back but it's cleared for a corner.
90 minThree minutes added time at the Britannia.
89 minSUB Off comes Peter Crouch and on comes Michael Owen to a rousing reception. Balotelli also makes way for Dzeko. Can either striker find a goal?
88 minCity can't find a way through here.
80 minStoke would have taken a point before the match, but they aren't settling for it here. Time for Owen, perhaps?
78 minStoke are hustling high up the field and City can't get it clear! Charlie Adam's cross is ultimately too straight, though, and goes into the arms of Hart.
76 minBalotelli tries to showcase his enigmatic self in the space of a minute as he shrugs off the 'injury' and fires a shot in from 25 yards, but it trickles harmlessly wide. Doesn't look like his day today.
75 minBalotelli goes down clutching his face after an off-the-ball incident. The replay suggests that the striker was being somewhat dramatic.
73 minAnd here comes that change. Silva on and debutant Scott Sinclair off.
71 minIf you were in any doubt about the depth Mancini has at his disposal, one David Silva is about to come on.
68 minSUB Etherington comes on for Kightly, who has played well today.
68 minA good spell of possession for Stoke is ended by a deep cross towards Crouch, but the striker is penalised for a foul on Maicon.
65 minSinclair turns sharply and races at the Stoke defence, but his pass to Balotelli is wayward and Stoke clear.
64 minTevez looked lively and will always be a threat. Surely bringing Balotelli off would have been a better choice?
62 minSUB Very interesting change from Mancini: Tevez off and Barry on. Not sure I really understand that one when you're looking for a win. I don't think he can afford to be thinking of the Madrid game already.
61 minCHANCE! Great chance for Toure! Shawcross intercepts a pass meant for Tevez, but the ball falls to Toure who really should score. Begovic is out quickly, though, and makes a fine save.
60 minThe City players are getting frustrated with Stoke's physical style of play, and the way that the ref is being lenient towards it.
57 minThose who thought that Stoke would come out and park the bus in front of their goal (me included) have been proved wrong in this opening 15 minutes, they've looked the more likely to score.
56 min...and in the same minute Balotellis is brought down again, but the ref this time waves it away. The Italian is not happy.
56 minBalotelli is felled when trying to get away and waves an imaginary card about. Not good to see people trying to get others booked.
54 minBOOKING! It's a terrible challenge from Javi Garcia but there's nothing malicious in it. It was pure momentum and the ref makes the right decision giving him a yellow card.
53 minCity counter through Sinclair, who gives it to Tevez but the Argentinian is crowded out.
52 minSpace opens up for Stoke as Charlie Adam drives forward before laying it off to Kightly, who tries to curl his effort into the far corner, but Maicon gets in the block.
48 minIt's eventually cleared by Maicon, but Stoke pump it straight back into the area. Good start to the half from Stoke.
48 minWalters makes a powerful run down the right, but Javi Garcia sticks with him and concedes the corner.
4.03pmRight, back to the action, and we're underway once more.
4.02pmSo, how will the second half pan out? City looked dangerous at the end of the first half, but as we know all too well, Stoke are good at holding on and are notoriously hard to beat. A very interesting half awaits, then, and I'm going to revise my prediction to 2-1 to City.
3.57pmAston Villa also lead Swansea 1-0, and Dimitar Berbatov has scored twice to give Fulham a 2-0 lead at the break against ten man West Brom.
3.55pmElsewhere in the league, United are still stuck at 0-0 against Wigan, Chelsea are drawing 0-0 with QPR and Arsenal have rushed into a 4-1 lead against Southampton.
3.53pmTony Pulis will be happy enough with that first half performance I'd imagine. They started well and took the lead, and really didn't look like being broken down by City before the goal. After the goal, however, City had a number of chances in quick succession, and Mancini will be telling his players to keep that up.
3.50pmBalotelli is having an animated chat with Mancini on the way off the field.
45+1 minHALF TIME Stoke City 1-1 Manchester City
45 minJust the one minute of added time.
44 minSinclair has a chance to put in a dangerous cross but he gets it all wrong. He hasn't really shone so far today, but he has only had 45 minutes in a City shirt so it's way too early to make judgements yet.
43 min...but it's a poor one that curls straight out of play. They'll need to make the most of those chances if City carry on playing like they have in the past ten minutes or so.
42 minA bit of respite for Stoke as they have another corner...
39 minCHANCE! Nice link up play between the front players for City as Balotelli back heels the ball through to Tevez, who fires straight at Begovic from a tight angle. The goal has really galvanised City.
38 minMore and more shooting opportunities are presenting themselves for City. Balotelli lets fly this time, but his curling effort from range is comfortable for Begovic.
36 minCHANCE! City are starting to create chances here. Tevez floats a ball over to Maicon, who attempts a first time volley with the outside of his foot that Begovic needs to parry wide.
34 minIt's a debut goal for Garcia! Ironically, after Stoke had looked so dangerous from set pieces of their own, they concede from one. Tevez's free kick is a fine one and Garcia finds himself completely unmarked and free to head home. Pulis will be livid at that marking.
34 minGOAL! Javi Garcia
31 minCrouch is inches away from connecting with a corner, but Hart just gets there to clear the danger. Stoke are looking dangerous from set pieces, but then again we knew that they would!
29 minCity are pretty much camped in the Stoke half at the moment, but their intricate football isn't working, so Toure lets play with a free kick from 35 yards out. High and wide from the midfielder.
27 minCity have a knack of digging themselves out of trouble really. It will be a habit that Mancini wishes they didn't need, but one that is very useful in situations like this.
24 minCity, as expected, have now taken this game by the scruff of its neck, but Stoke seem to be happy to let them have the ball so long as they don't breach their two banks of four behind the ball.
23 minClean sheets are proving hard to come by for the City defence at the moment, they haven't kept one so far this season. Not a good thing when you're next match will see you come up against one Cristiano Ronaldo.
21 minCHANCE! Good play from City as Toure finds Tevez, who in turn slips Balotelli through. The Italy international turns well in the box, but fires his left footed shot over the bar. Probably should have done better there.
20 minA long ball up from Shawcross is flicked on by Crouch to Charlie Adam. The former Liverpool man has Kightly flying down the right but chooses to goal for goal himself, and blazes it way, way over the bar.
19 minTony Pulis is roaming the touchline and barking orders at his team. Still a long way to go but he knows that this would be a massive scalp for his side.
16 minThey don't care much for reputations here. Balotelli tries to find a way past Robert Huth, but that is most certainly easier said than done. Huth wins this round.
14 minIt's not quite a repeat of his spectacular goal in this fixture last season, but they all count! A corner causes havoc in the defence, and Crouch bundles through three tackles and slots home from close range. How did he get through there? Hint of handball too.
13 minGOAL! Peter Crouch
12 minIt's a dangerous ball in from Whelan but Joe Hart comes out to claim it. Defenders love a keeper who can do that.
11 minApologies for the lack of updates there, some technical problems but we're back now! Still 0-0, and Stoke have a free kick to the right of City's area.
4 minCarlos Tevez produces the first shot of the match, running across the face of the area before firing a shot just wide. The ref pulls play back for a foul, though, and it is a free kick in a good position for City here...
4 minLescott sends a fine pass down to Scott Sinclair, but the debutant's cross is cut out. Expect to see a lot of that today.
3 minA fluid move from Stoke is well cut out by Clichy, who needed to make that interception.
1 minBalotelli makes a lively start with a turn, but it comes to nothing. Fairly even start so far.
0 minWe're underway at the Britannia!
3pmA shout out, too, for Roberto Mancini, who celebrates his 100th day in charge of City today. Not quite reached Ferguson's record of 1000 matches, but it's a milestone nonetheless.
2.56pmThe last time City beat Stoke away from home was way back in 1999. Gerard Wilkins scored the winner in a Division 2 match. How times have changed.
2.52pmThese two played each other in the FA Cup final last year, if you'll remember, and on that occasion it was City that ended their trophy drought with a 1-0 win.
2.49pmWe're nearing kickoff at the Britannia, time for predictions! Stoke are hard to beat at any time, and particularly at home, and City may have one eye on their mouth-watering clash with Real Madrid on Tuesday...but I'm still going to go for a City win. 2-0 to the champions.
2.32pmThe team news is now coming in for both sides, and the big news is that Mancini is handing debuts to Maicon, Javi Garcia and Scott Sinclair. Owen, meanwhile, misses out on a spot in the starting XI, as expected.
2.21pmWe also have live coverage of Manchester United's match against Wigan here and Arsenal's match against Southampton here.
2.19pmChelsea have set the pace in the Premier League with three wins from three so far. They are up against QPR today, and you can follow live commentary of that match here.
2.10pmAnd you can read City manager Roberto Mancini's thoughts on what he believes will be a difficult game here.
2.08pmGood afternoon! We're in for an intriguing match today. On paper, you would surely expect a win for the away side, but they have had their problems at the Britannia.
Written by
Barney Corkhill
Barney Corkhill
