Stoke vs West Ham Betting Tips & Predictions

Stoke will just be wishing that this season would end. They looked like they would achieve their best ever finish in the Premier League back in March, but a shocking spell of form from the Potters has left the fans dismayed.

They haven’t won any of their last six matches and have picked up just two points from a possible 18, leaving them down in 10th position with the highest attainable position being 9th.

Defensive issues have caused the downfall of Stoke. Jack Butland’s absence has no doubt caused a few extra goals to be conceded, but that can’t explain the fact that they have conceded 17 goals in their last six outings. They have conceded at least two goals in five of their last six games. Three of their last four games at the previously feared Britannia Stadium have seen them ship two goals as well.

West Ham gave Upton Park the send off it deserved on Tuesday amid one of the loudest crowds that the Premier League has ever seen. The intensity was added to when kick off was delayed due to the Manchester United team bus being bombarded with missiles, and once the first whistle sounded West Ham went on the attack.

They pressed the ball with an intensity rarely seen in the early stages of the game before going a goal up. Anthony Martial scored a brace to put the visitors ahead though, but a host of defensive errors kept gifting West Ham chances. Eventually they converted some of them, with Antonio and Reid netting in quick succession to win the match for West Ham.

This was their 3rd win in their last four games and takes them to within a point of Manchester United in 5th position. The Hammers need a result in order to guarantee Europa League football, and potentially progress straight to the group stages with a 5th place finish.

The 3-2 win on Tuesday took their recent goals tally to 21 goals in their last ten games, and they have netted at least two goals in seven of their last nine outings. Six of their last seven trips away have seen them bag two or more as well, and considering Stoke’s awful defence at the moment I can see them netting a few on Saturday as well, although probably not enough to overturn the 15 goal goal difference deficit that they have over Manchester City. The top four is out of their reach barring an absolutely incredible couple of closing day scorelines.

West Ham’s excellent attacking record and Stoke’s poor defence makes odds of 5/6 for West Ham Over 1.5 Team Goals look incredibly good value, and I’m going for that along with a 3-1 correct score prediction at 14/1.