Stoke City vs West Ham United. Premier League.
Bet365 StadiumAttendance27,628.
Saturday 29 April 2017 13:56, UK
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."
Walters missed last weekend's defeat by Swansea and has had limited training time but Jack Butland will keep his place in goal after making his return from 13 months out with ankle problems.
Hughes has no other injury worries but counterpart Slaven Bilic will be without Andy Carroll (groin).
Bilic also has doubts over Cheikhou Kouyate, Winston Reid, Arthur Masuaku and Diafra Sakho following last weekend's goalless draw with Everton.
Skipper Mark Noble and right-back Sam Byram return to the squad after suspension, though, while wingers Robert Snodgrass and Sofiane Feghouli should be fit.
Stoke are unbeaten against West Ham in the Premier League under Mark Hughes, winning three of their seven clashes (D4).
West Ham have won only once in their last seven away trips to Stoke in all competitions (D2 L4) - winning 1-0 in March 2013.
Saido Berahino has scored in three of his four previous starts against West Ham United in the Premier League (three goals).
However, Berahino hasn't scored a Premier League goal since February 27, 2016 (for West Brom vs Crystal Palace) and has since gone 24 games and 1567 minutes without a goal in the competition.
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.
West Ham have won 38 points from 34 Premier League matches this season - it took them only 24 matches to win more points last season (39).
Slaven Bilic's side have conceded in the 83rd minute or later in each of their last four Premier League away games, with these goals costing the Hammers four points.
This feels like a dead rubber. West Ham are safe and Stoke don't have too much to play for other than jostling for mid-table.
In this sort of situation it's safe to stick with the home team and while I think West Ham will score, I fancy Marko Arnautovic to get plenty of joy again. I'm a big fan of the Austrian.
PAUL PREDICTS: 2-1 (Sky Bet odds 15/2)
Stoke are the favourites for the victory at evens with Sky Bet, while West Ham are at 13/5 with a draw priced at 5/2. Both clubs are heavily backed to finish in the bottom half, with the Potters 5/2 and the Hammers 9/1 respectively for top-half finishes. Despite the visitors being outsiders, Andy Carroll heads the first goalscorer betting at 5/1, with Saido Berahino and Peter Crouch following at 11/2 apiece.
