Free football betting tips: Preview of Stoke City v Manchester City in the Premier League
Nick Hext is going for an early goal as his best bet for Premier League leaders Manchester City's trip to Stoke on Monday night.
Monday Night Football recommended bets
1pt First goal in Stoke v Manchester City to be scored in the first 10 minutes at 27/10
1pt First goal in Stoke v Manchester City to be scored 11 and 20 minutes at 10/3
For details of advised bookmakers and each-way terms, visit our transparent tipping record.
Stoke City v Manchester City (2000 GMT, Sky Sports Main Event)
Watch Manchester City's Monday Night Football trip to Stoke if you aren't ready for a prolonged break from action for the Premier League leaders.
Pep Guardiola's table-toppers have to wait until March 31 for their next game at Everton after the short trip to the bet365 Stadium. That's because of next weekend's FA Cup quarter-finals (City were scheduled to face Brighton in the league) and the upcoming international break.
Manchester City require four victories to make sure of the Premier League title (the likelihood is they will need less than those 12 points) and there's very little to suggest that they will be troubled by Stoke.
Basel did shock the Etihad Stadium outfit last time out but progress in the Champions League was already assured and Guardiola had made six alterations to the starting XI.
He remains without Sergio Aguero on Monday night but Gabriel Jesus netted in the 2-1 defeat to Basel and looked lively enough to suggest there won't be a big problem at the head of the attack.
David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne can be expected to add extra panache to the attacking forays, while Ederson, Kyle Walker and Nicolas Otamendi all make the backline stronger.
Second-bottom Stoke are much more solid than their 7-2 defeat at the Etihad back in September but Paul Lambert still has lots of work to do if the Potters are to avoid relegation.
The Scot has one win, four draws and one defeat from his first six matches in charge but this is the first time that Stoke have faced one of the Premier League's top seven clubs during his reign.
It doesn't need explanation that it's harder to keep a clean sheet against Manchester City than it is against Huddersfield, Watford and Southampton, as Stoke have done in three of Lambert's opening six matches.
I fancy a routine Manchester City win and my best way to get a profit from the match is by going for an early goal.
Manchester City have opened the scoring before the end of the 20th minute in five of their last seven outings.
There's 27/10 available for the opener to be netted before the end of the 10th minute and 10/3 for that goal to arrive between 11 and 20 minutes.
I'll play it safe and go for the 'time of first goal' market to keep Stoke on our side if they take a surprise early lead.
Split your stakes with both of those selections and you will be assured of a decent return if this becomes the latest Manchester City match to contain an early strike.
Prediction: Stoke 0-2 Manchester City (Sky Bet's odds: 11/2)
Alternative bet: Manchester City to beat Stoke to nil
Posted at 1705 GMT at 11/03/18