Stoke City vs West Ham United
Date: 16/12/17
K.O: 15:00pm
Venue: Bet365 Stadium
Stoke City face West Ham this weekend at the Bet365 as Mark Hughes will look to stop their worrying slide towards the bottom end of the table, losing four of their last five games and most recently a 1-0 loss to highflying Burnley.
However, West Ham are enjoying their best football of the season so far as the David Moyes regime is starting to take shape leading to a much more disciplined and organised playing style. With a win and a draw against Chelsea and Arsenal in the last week, confidence will be high going in to this game.
Team News:
David Moyes will be without Winston Reid after his yellow card against Arsenal has led to his suspension. Moyes could also look to replace Michail Antonio as he has run himself in to the ground in the last two games. Which could mean a first start for Javier Hernandez since his return from injury.
Mark Hughes however will be without Kurt Zouma after he picked up an injury against Burnley. Hughes will also be without Glenn Johnson, Stephan Ireland and Bruno Martins Indi as they all recover form injury
Predicted Line-ups:
Stoke City: Butland, Diouf, Cameron, Shawcross, Wimmer, Pieters, Allen, fletcher, Sobhi, Shaqiri, Crouch
Formation: 5-2-2-1
West Ham: Adrian, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Collins, Cresswell, Masuaku, Noble, Obiang, Lanzini, Arnautovic and Hernandez.
Formation: 5-3-1-1
Prediction:
West Ham should fancy themselves going up to Stoke after their recent performances and renewed confidences as stoke aren’t the same quality as West Hams recent opposition. Although Stoke can be a tricky opposition against as in recent years their record against each other has been fairly even. However as long as the Hammers has gas in the tank they should sneak the three points.
Score Prediction:
Stoke City 1 West Ham 2
Written by Henry Tomlinson.
