Stoke City have finally found their knack of winning and they face a tricky fixture at the London Stadium where they take on West Ham United. Compared to their last 3 fixtures of Sunderland, Hull City and Swansea City, West Ham is a difficult place to go and win and Mark Hughes is well aware of it.
West Ham are currently in 17th place, just one position above the relegation zone. They have gathered 10 points from the opening 10 games in what has been a pretty dull start after the summer hype. Stoke City sit 12th and have improved their form of late after a similarly bad start just like the Hammers.
After the first 10 games, the mid-table is pretty tight as a win could see some movement up the table and that’s exactly what the two managers will ask their players to do. West Ham will go into the game after losing 2-0 away to Everton. They did impress in the first half but were blown away by the Toffees in the second.
Stoke City are full of confidence after thumping Swansea City at home last weekend. According to stats, Stoke City are undefeated in their 6 last meetings against West Ham United, while West Ham United have managed to beat Stoke City just twice in their 12 Premier league meetings.
Defence
The back four Hughes has been deploying are Erik Pieters, Bruno Martins Indi, Ryan Shawcross and Phil Bardsley and the gaffer is expected to stick with them. Hughes will deploy Shawcross and Indi at the heart of his defence. Lee Grant is expected to continue in goal for the Potters.
Middle
Stoke City are one of the few teams in the Premier League who have successfully replaced their injured players. They will be without Stephen Ireland out with a fractured leg and Ibrahim Afellay with a knee injury but that’s about it as Hughes has the rest of the squad available.
With the likes of Charlie Adam on the bench, Stoke City’s depth in the squad could well be gauged. Their star midfielder Joe Allen will also start the match and the fans will hope he continues his incredible form. He has netted 4 times in 9 appearances already.
Attack
Loanee Wilfred Bony scored a brace against Swansea last Monday and finally showed his true colours. With Xherdan Shaqiri on the right wing and Marko Arnautovic on the left, Stoke really have the prowess to score at will.
