West Ham v Stoke City – Match Preview

We welcome Stoke City to the Boleyn Ground this weekend and we should will be going all out to ensure our start to the season remains unbeaten, and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t succeed with that.

The neutrals will have looked at our result against Cheltenham Town on Tuesday night and immediately concluded that we made hard work of it. But, we all know that wasn’t the case. Had we had an out-and-out goal scorer on the field I’m 99 per cent sure we would have won more convincingly.

And that’s something we can take a lot of positives from given the side that Sam Allardyce decided to field. Ravel Morrison, as expected, was class. He was everywhere, battled well in midfield and took his goal wonderfully. I know we all keep saying it but, if he continues to progress at the current rate, we could be looking at a regular starter and possible a not too distant England call up for the youngster. Let’s hope he keeps his head down.

Leo Chambers deserves a mention, too. He was a surprise inclusion on Tuesday night but he conducted himself well, didn’t put a foot wrong and completed the full 90 minutes without much fuss. He may well be another one to look out for in the coming years, but he’ll no doubt need some game time out on loan first, like Morrison.

It was disappointing to see that Ricardo Vaz Te wants to leave the club, too. He got his wish on Tuesday and played up front, scoring a class free-kick in the process. But he knows just as much as we do that Andy Carroll and Modibo Maiga are always going to be ahead of him in that position, so you can’t blame him for the comments he made yesterday. That said, if Big Sam considers what he said then I should think he might decide to give him a go up front against Stoke.

We drew this fixture 1-1 last term and I think we can expect to go one further this year and take all three points. Jonathan Walters’ goal proven to be the result of cheating in the Hammers box by replays and we’ll want to make them pay for that on Saturday.

Mark Hughes hasn’t strengthen Stoke in the summer but they’ve picked up three points from their opening two Premier League games.

With that in mind, and if we continue our good form and remain just as solid at the back as we’ve been for a while now, we’ll still be unbeaten come Saturday night.

Verdict: It won’t be a game for the football romantics, but West Ham should secure a comfortable three points.

Team News:

West Ham United (5th, 4 points)

Alou Diarra is set to miss the rest of the season after suffering a knee ligament injury against Cheltenham on Tuesday night.

Andy Carroll (heel) is still not ready, but George McCartney may make the bench after featuring on Tuesday night after a knee injury.

Stoke City (10th, 3 points)

Peter Crouch has recovered from illness in time to feature on Saturday, but Kenwyne Jones is expected to start after his hat-trick in the Capital One Cup in mid-week.

Jamie Ness (thigh) is currently Mark Hughes’ only injury worry.

Last five meetings:

Date	Competition	Venue	Result
2 Mar 2013	Premier League	Britannia Stadium	W 1-0
19 Nov 2012	Premier League	Boleyn Ground	D 1-1
13 Mar 2011	FA Cup 6th Round	Britannia Stadium	L 2-1
5 Mar 2011	Premier League	Boleyn Ground	W 3-0
27 Oct 2010	League Cup 4th Round	Boleyn Ground	W 3-1

Possible starting XI:

Match in Numbers:

3 – The Hammers have kept a clean sheet in three of their last four top-flight games at home.

1 – Stoke City have won just one of their last 12 Premier League away games (W1 D4 L7).

9 – The last five top-flight meetings between these two have produced just nine goals in total.

617 – West Ham have attempted just 617 passes in the Premier League so far this season, lower than any other side.

0 – Since the beginning of last season, both sides have been involved in six 0-0 draws; joint highest in the Premier League.

0 – But there has never been a 0-0 draw between these two teams in the Premier League.

100 – If he starts, George McCartney will make his 100th league start for the Hammers.

14 – Stoke’s Asmir Begovic has made 14 saves in the Premier League so far this season, more than any other keeper.

6 – West Ham are unbeaten in their last six home league games.

2 – Stoke won just two away games in the Premier League, equal lowest in the division.

Head-to-Head (all competitions)

Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	GD +/-	Win %
98	37	27	34	138	113	+25	37.76%