Two clubs in opposite halves of the Premier League table will do battle today in a match between Stoke City and Manchester City. The first-division clash scheduled for 2:45 p.m. ET will be held at Britannia Stadium in Stoke-on-Trent and can be live streamed here free.

What They're Saying

Stoke City manager Mark Hughes (via Mirror): "You get to this stage of the season and start running out of games. A 10-point gap before Christmas doesn't worry teams. With 12 to 14 games left, it is more difficult. The more games chalked off, the greater the difficulty [Manchester] City will find. City will probably need to win every game they have left to beat Chelsea."

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini (via BBC): "He is a very important player and it is very important to have Yaya [Toure] back, but we don't just depend on one player. We must win without him."

Tactical Preview

Player to Watch: One of the other players Pellegrini must depend on this Wednesday is Samir Nasri. In 17 league appearances, the 27-year-old has four assists and an average of 2.8 key passes.

Manchester City's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Begovic; Wilson, Muniesa, Wollscheid, Bardsley; Whelan, N'Zonzi; Moses, Walters, Diouf; Crouch

Stoke City's Projected Lineup (4-2-3-1): Hart; Clichy, Mangala, Kompany, Sagna; Fernandinho, Fernando; Nasri, Silva, Milner; Aguero

Note: Credit all statistics to officially licensed data from Opta Sports (statistics and lineups via WhoScored).

Standings

Rnk

Team

MP

W

D

L

GF

GA

+/-

Pts

1

Chelsea

24

17

5

2

54

21

33

56

2

Manchester City

24

14

7

3

47

24

23

49

3

Southampton

24

14

3

7

38

17

21

45

4

Arsenal

25

13

6

6

47

28

19

45

5

Manchester United

24

12

8

4

40

23

17

44

6

Tottenham Hotspur

25

13

4

8

39

34

5

43

7

Liverpool

25

12

6

7

36

29

7

42

8

West Ham United

24

10

7

7

36

28

8

37

9

Swansea City

24

9

7

8

28

31

-3

34

10

Stoke City

24

9

6

9

27

29

-2

33

11

Newcastle United

24

8

7

9

30

36

-6

31

12

Everton

24

6

9

9

31

34

-3

27

13

Crystal Palace

24

6

8

10

26

34

-8

26

14

Sunderland

25

4

12

9

22

36

-14

24

15

Hull City

25

5

8

12

23

34

-11

23

16

West Bromwich Albion

24

5

8

11

22

34

-12

23

17

Queens Park Rangers

25

6

4

15

26

43

-17

22

18

Aston Villa

25

5

7

13

12

34

-22

22

19

Burnley

24

4

9

11

23

40

-17

21

20

Leicester City

25

4

5

16

22

40

-18

17