By Gerard McGovern from London, United Kingdom – Olympic StadiumUploaded by BaldBoris, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20512002
Stoke made it three victories in a row on Monday night in an impressive transformation from their dismal start to the season that saw them at the foot of the table after five games. Each of these victories have been against the current bottom-three and they now visit fourth from bottom West Ham, who suffered a defeat at Everton following an unbeaten run of four matches in October.
Potters fans will have been particularly pleased to see Wilfred Bony open his account for the club with a brace against Swansea. They’ll now need the Ivorian to push on especially with Arnautovic suspended for this match. They’ve lost four of the five matches the Austrian has missed since the start of last term, while their goals per game drops from 1.2 in the 90 games he’s started since his arrival to 1.0 in the 31 he hasn’t. In addition, Shaqiri remains a doubt after limping off on Monday, so Stokes’ line-up could lack in the creativity department.
West Ham have still yet to really convince in their new stadium where they’ve gone W2-D1-L2 thus far, netting just five times. Take the 1.95 available on Under 2.5 goals as the lack of a recognised striker is certainly having an effect on this Hammers team who missed plenty of chances at Goodison and have scored just three in their last five. Four of these had fewer than three strikes, as has been the case for four of Stoke’s five road games this season.
Best Bet: Under 2.5 Goals at 2.05
