Stoke City v Man Utd preview: Luke Shaw pushing for start

Manchester United travel to Stoke City on Saturday looking to stretch their unbeaten run in all competitions to 17 games.

United's 1-1 draw with Liverpool last weekend ended a run of six straight wins in the Premier League - a run of results which has catapulted Jose Mourinho's men back into the top-four mix.

Although Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been grabbing the headlines, scoring 13 goals in his last 13 games, the United defence have provided a solid platform for their attackers to shine as they have not conceded more than one goal in any of the last 16 games in all competitions.

Meanwhile, Stoke are unbeaten in their last three home league games against United (W2 D1) and have kept three clean sheets in their last four matches at the Bet365 Stadium.

Team news

Bojan Krkic will return to the Stoke squad for Saturday's clash.

The Spaniard, who has been linked with a move away from the club in January, has recovered from the rib problem that ruled him out of last weekend's win over Sunderland.

Jonathan Walters, Geoff Cameron, Jack Butland and Stephen Ireland remain on the sidelines while Ramadan Sobhi, Wilfried Bony and Mame Biram Diouf are away on Africa Cup of Nations duty.

Mourinho said United have "little problems" ahead of the game but no major injury concerns.

Eric Bailly is unavailable while on international duty with Ivory Coast, but Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo came through last week's clash with Liverpool fine after returning from injury.

Luke Shaw could also be set for a recall to the starting XI after returning to fitness.

Opta stats

Manchester United haven't gone four league games without a win at Stoke since a run of six in April 1964.

Manchester United have only failed to score in one of their last 21 league games against Stoke, though it was in this exact fixture last season (0-2).

Peter Crouch is one goal away from his 100th in the Premier League, though only two of his 99 have come against Manchester United (two in 23 games).

Ibrahimovic's 14 league goals have won Manchester United 11 points this season; no player has won more for this side (level with Diego Costa).

Merson's prediction

Stoke had a good result last week but the week before they were losing at home to Wolves in the FA Cup. I have been very surprised with their inconsistency. Manchester United will be very disappointed with the draw against Liverpool. It was a poor penalty to give away at any level of football. I don't like going against Stoke at home but United are still unbeaten and flying along.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-3 (12/1 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Stoke can be backed at 19/4 for a surprise victory over Manchester United at the Bet365 Stadium this weekend. United are odds-on favourites at 8/13 as they look to maintain their strong Premier League form, with Jose Mourinho's men 7/2 to win by exactly two goals and 4/1 by three or more.

The away win and both teams to score is on offer at 5/2, with a score draw priced at 7/4. United strikers dominate the first goalscorer betting, with Ibrahimovic 100/30, Marcus Rashford and Wayne Rooney both 9/2 and Anthony Martial 6/1.