Manchester City will be aiming to win their first Premier League away game in almost three months when they travel to Stoke on Saturday.

The league leaders have not won on the road since beating Crystal Palace on September 12.

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However, they still start the weekend top of the table on goal difference and have been boosted by the recent return of David Silva from injury.

The Spaniard came off the bench in the win over Southampton last weekend and started in the victory against Hull in the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup.

City could face Stoke in the cup final as the Potters were paired with Liverpool in the last four after their 2-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

Premier League questions

We take a look at 10 questions that could be answered this weekend.

Mark Hughes' men have lost just two of their last 12 games in all competitions, although they were beaten at Sunderland in their last outing.

Team news

Peter Crouch is a doubt for Stoke after suffering a hamstring injury in midweek, but Mame Biram Diouf is set to return after missing the tie to attend the birth of his child.

Ryan Shawcross is also available after serving a one-match suspension in the cup.

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City will be without captain Vincent Kompany (calf), Pablo Zabaleta (knee) and Sergio Aguero (heel), but Joe Hart (hamstring) is in contention to play after taking part in training.

Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri were also ruled out by City boss Manuel Pellegrini on Friday afternoon.

Eliaquim Mangala is suspended, but Fernando and Jesus Navas (ankle) are fit to play.

Opta stats

Stoke have won just two of their 14 Premier League meetings with Manchester City (D5 L7), and just one of the last 12.

Sergio Aguero has bagged five goals in his five Premier League appearances against Stoke.

At the Britannia, the Potters have lost just one of their seven Premier League clashes with City (W1 D5), although that defeat came last time out (1-4 in February) while their solitary home win came in their maiden Premier League season, in January 2009 (1-0).

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City have only managed two clean sheets in their last nine Premier League games after keeping six in a row directly before that.

Stoke have averaged 326 accurate passes per game and posted a 79 per cent passing accuracy rate in 2015-16 so far, both season-highs in the club's Premier League history.

Kevin De Bruyne has been directly involved in 10 goals in his 10 Premier League appearances this season (four goals, six assists).

Merson's prediction

I can see Stoke getting something. They are a very hard side to beat at home and I very rarely back against them at the Britannia.

I've watched Man City a few times this season. I didn't think they were great against Southampton but they got the win.

This will be a hard game for them. They've got Europe next week so might have one eye on the game against Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday. I'm going for a 1-1 draw.

PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1 (6/1 with Sky Bet)

Betting

Sky Bet make City 8/13 favourites ahead of their trip to face 15/4 shots Stoke in Saturday's lunchtime kick-off.

City won this fixture 4-1 last season but have generally struggled on trips to the Britannia with five of the last six league meetings ending in draws. It's 3/1 for another stalemate and 7/2 for a scoring draw.

Stoke beat Chelsea in their last home league fixture courtesy of a Marko Arnautovic strike and the Austrian can be backed at 10/1 to net the opener.

Sergio Aguero is 5/6 to net anytime with Kevin De Bruyne 5/2 to score for the third match running. Check out the tips from pundits Jamie Redknapp, Charlie Nicholas, Matt Le Tissier and Phil Thompson here.