Stoke v West Ham
Venue: Bet365 Stadium
Kick off: 3PM
Stoke look set to be without Jon Walters again as they seek to arrest a slump in form against a West Ham side just a point behind them in the Premier League table.
Walters is struggling with a knee problem ahead of Saturday’s clash between sides who could both yet secure a morale-boosting top-10 finish despite disappointing recent runs of form.
The Potters, seeking a fourth successive top-half finish in the Premier League, have suffered five defeats in their last six matches, while West Ham have picked up only one win in 10, despite a three-game unbeaten streak.
“It’s a case of expectation,” Stoke boss Mark Hughes said ahead of kick-off. “Since I’ve come here I’ve tried to raise expectations and for the most part we’ve matched the expectations of everybody at the club and the supporters.
“The Premier League this year is really strong -certainly the top end is very strong – and very few clubs have been able to take points off the top sides. But we’re still trying to achieve things that haven’t been achieved here and we’ve still got the possibility of doing that.
“When we’ve had a disappointment, more often that not we’ve bounced back And I fully expect us to have a good performance in front of our home crowd, get past 40 points and see if we can finish the season on a high.”
Stoke are unbeaten against West Ham in the Premier League under Mark Hughes, winning three of their seven clashes.
Mark Hughes’ next win as a manager in the Premier League will be his 150th. Only six managers have previously reached this tally in the competition: Sir Alex Ferguson, Arsene Wenger, Harry Redknapp, David Moyes, Sam Allardyce and Jose Mourinho.
On the other hand, West Ham has won only once in their last seven away trips to Stoke in all competitions.
West Ham has won 38 points from 34 Premier League matches this season – it took them only 24 matches to win more points last season.
Slaven Bilic’s side hasconceded in the 83rd minute or later in each of their last four Premier League away games, with these goals costing the Hammers four points.
Stoke City Possible XI: Butland, Johnson, Martins Indi, Shawcross, Pieters, Cameron, Allen, Diouf, Shaqiri, Arnautovic, Berahino.
West Ham Possible XI: Adrian, Collins, Reid, Fonte, Fernandes, Nordtveit, Kouyate, Masuaku, Lanzini, Ayew, Calleri.