Tune in at 10:00 AM ET as Manchester United takes on Stoke. Rob Sturney will be liveblogging for your enjoyment.
I'm Rob Sturney here with The Score's continuing coverage of the EPL. Today we're coming from Old Trafford where Manchester United host Stoke City.
Right now Chelsea is beating Tottenham 4-2 in North London. So the top side in the EPL will stay top. Man U is second right now and Stoke 12th.
I thought we might see the return of Ashley Young today, but he's still not fit from that August injury. Vidic is out for the majority of the season, Jones has a bum knee and Smalling's metatarsal injury is still nagging.
Tony Pulis has Whelan out with a hamstring injury, Michael Owen' groin is still tender and Sidibé still suffers from a groin strain as well.
Lineups: Man U: De Gea, Ferdinand, Evans, Rafael, Evra; Carrick, Scholes, Valencia, Rooney; Welbeck, Van Persie
Stoke City: Begovic, Shawcross, Huth, Cameron, Wilson; Adam, Whitehead, N'zonzi, Kightly, Walters; Crouch
Welbeck is up front with Van Persie, Rooney still playing back a bit with Valencia, Carrick and Scholes the holding mids.
Pulis is playing Crouch at the point of the spear. Adam and N'zonzi have settled well at Stoke and they'll be the dynamism in midfield.
Subs for Man U: Nani, Lindegaard, Wootton, Powell, Giggs, Anderson, Chicharito
Van Persie has five goals so far, Rooney has three assists. Crouch is Stoke's top scorer with four.
Goals, Umeed. Lots of goals!
In their last three EPL matches, Manchester United has beaten Liverpool, lost to Tottenham and beaten Newcastle. Their next match is against Chelsea.
Stoke City face Sunderland next. Their last three matches have been a lost to Chelsea, a win over Swansea and a draw with Liverpool.
It looks like they're playing him in that midfield diamond again. It could be a false 4-4-2, more of a 4-3-3. Let's see how Sir Alex tinkers.
At the same time there's an intriguing matchup between Man City and WBA.
I like the idea of him as provider though. Maybe this is what he'll be now that he's lost a bit of speed.
Stoke is certainly a different proposition at home in January or February.
Of course, the Score will be liveblogging the Champions League in mid-week. I'm not sure which games are going to which bloggers, but the EPL teams' matchups are Shakhtar versus Chelsea, Man U v Braga, Arsenal v Schalke and Ajax v Man City. Enticing stuff.
Man U are in their traditional red jerseys and white shorts. De Gea is clad in all green.
Stoke are in their change strip, I think - they're all in their jackets while Man U are already in their playing kits. It looks like the 'keeper Begovic is in Hallowe'en orange.
The telly suggests it's a 4-5-1 for Stoke and more of a 4-3-2-1 Christmas tree for Man U.
Yeah, Stoke is in red and blue stripes as their change kit.
Man U will be attacking from right to left in the first half. Right to left.
Man U will kick us off here.
And we're off. Stoke press Man U high up the pitch. Soon after Valencia chips in from the right side and Scholes shanks his shot from the top of the penalty area.
2 min: Stoke's up and under off the throw in goes nowhere. Scholes snags Shawcross's pass out of the air.
Right, so the predictions and support are tipped towards United.
3 min: RVP is offside on a glancing header chance. He collides with Begovic and stays down to recover.
