West Ham vs Stoke City
English Premier League
Date: 16th April 2018, Monday.
Kick-off at 20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
Venue: Olympic Stadium (London).
It is a virtual cup final in relegation battle when West Ham welcome Stoke City to the Olympic Stadium on Monday night.
A late strike from Chicharito earned the Hammers a point at Stamford Bridge last week to complement a 3-0 win against Southampton in the previous round. Having picked 4 points from 2 games, West Ham steered 6 points clear-off the relegation zone. However, the Monday’s fixture against Stoke City is of higher significance to David Moyes’ men as 3 of their next 5 games are against Arsenal, Manchester City and United. Therefore, a win here is inevitable.
Stoke City are sitting 4 points below safety and their luck hasn’t improved since Paul Lambert took over. It is true that they had a difficult run of fixtures as three of their last four lost games were against Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham. Yet, they team haven’t won a Premier League games since 20-Janauary. And the home win against Huddersfield is their only one in 15 games. So, the fixture against Hammers is extremely important to the Potters as they are have to meet the inform Burnley and Liverpool next before finishing the campaign against fellow relegation candidates Crystal Palace and Swansea.
[get_partner id=57408]West Ham vs Stoke City: Head-to-head
Five of the last 7 h2h meetings between the sides are draws with teams winning 1 each from the remaining 2.
One of those victories fell in favor of West Ham earlier this season at the Britannia Stadium by a comfortable 3-0 margin.
The Hammers are win-less in their last 5 Premier League home matches against Stoke, however 4 of them are draws.
All five matches produced under 2.5 goals and the most common score-line during the period is 1-1, which occurred 3 times.
[get_partner id=57397]West Ham vs Stoke City: Prediction
The Potters are traditionally poor on the road and lost 10 of their 16 outings this season, while managing 1 win. And they are the worst defense in the league.
West Ham despite their trouble off field, still maintain a good record in their own backyard. Let alone the 3-0 loss to Burnley in the crowd trouble fixture last March, they are unbeaten in 5 with 3 wins and 2 draws. They do not have the insurance in defense as well, but seem good enough to edge a narrow win.
Marko Arnautovic scored 5 goals in his last four appearances for club and country. And he is our key player for this fixture and the favorite to score any-time against his former club.
West Ham vs Stoke City: Bet Tips
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West Ham vs Stoke City: Team News & Predicted Line-ups
West Ham United
Andy Caroll, Michail Antonio, Winston Reid, James Collins, Pedro Obiang and Sam Byram remain sidelined with long term injuries for the Hammers.
Meantime, Manuel Lanzini is yet to attain full-fitness since picking up a knee injury during international duty with Argentina back in March.
Few changes are expected from David Moyes in the eleven that earned him a point at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham: Predicted Starting Line-up (3-4-2-1)
Hart – Cresswell, Ogbonna, Rice – Masuaku, Noble, Kouyate, Zabaleta – Fernandes, Mario – Arnautovic.
Stoke City
The experienced Charlie Adam serve third of his three match ban, while Choupo-Moting is yet to reach full-fitness following a groin problem.
Meantime, Kevin Wimmer and Konstantinos Stafylidis are major doubts.
Stoke City: Predicted Starting Line-up (4-4-1-1)
Butland – Glen Johnson, Zouma, Shawcross, Pieters – Sobhi, Ndiaye, Allen, Bauer – Shaqiri, Diouf.
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