West Ham United will entertain Mark Hughes’ Stoke City side with Slaven Bilic’s men in desperate need for a win. Both sides have had poor starts to their seasons but Stoke City have risen up the table following a run of good results whereas West Ham are yet to reach their top gear.
Stoke could pick up just one point from their opening five fixtures but are unbeaten since, winning their last three and with former Liverpool midfielder Joe Allen enjoying an amazing transformation as a number ten, scoring and creating goals.
West Ham were finally building good momentum but lost out 2-0 to Everton last week. Even though they are playing at home against Stoke, the Hammers will be the underdogs for this one. Here are three burning questions the West Ham fans will ask ahead of this game.
How will West Ham cope in Reid’s absence?
West Ham will be without Winston Reid against Stoke City. The Kiwi international is banned for Saturday’s game after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season against Everton but he would have missed the clash regardless because of a hamstring injury.
Regardless of West Ham doing well or struggling defensively, Reid is a key player at the London Stadium and will be missed sorely against the Potters. We have to wait and see how Bilic’s men perform without their key defensive player.
Back three or back four?
A big question ahead of the game will be what sort of a defensive setup Bilic will deploy at the back? West Ham improved their defending to some extent since they switched to three at the back but still lost to Everton last week.
With Winston Reid unavailable for the game, will West Ham once again line up with three at the back or will they switch to a back four? This will be a big question which will be answered when the lineups are out.
Is Ayew the player West Ham have been missing?
West Ham have struggled to score goals this campaign. With Andy Carroll and Andre Ayew both missing through injuries since almost the start of the season, the likes of Zaza, Fletcher and Calleri have all failed to deliver. Now that Ayew is back to full fitness, will Bilic hand him a chance up front?
Ayew is not technically a number nine but is more than capable of doing a decent job out there. Can the Ghana international finally solve the Hammers’ woes in front of the goal? We will get the answer on Sunday.
