Carling Cup Preview: West Ham United vs. Stoke City
West Ham United will host Stoke City at Upton Park in the 4th round of the Carling Cup, to book a place in the quarter-finals.
Stoke City are currently at the 13th position in the English Premier League, while their opponents for the night, West Ham, are rock-bottom in 20th position. Both teams will be looking to return to winning ways after suffering home defeats in the league at the weekend. The Potters lost at Britannia Stadium to Manchester United, and The Hammers could not hold on to their early lead against Newcastle United and were beaten 2-1.
West Ham progressed from the 3rd round by beating Sunderland 2-1, and thanks to a second-half equalizer by Victor Obinna, Stoke City registered an easy home win against Fulham FC in the previous round, dispatching the west-London side 2-0; goals from Danny Higginbotham and Kenwyne Jones enough for The Potters.
West Ham defender Matthew Upson is a doubt for the game as he limped off the pitch after hurting his hamstring in the match against Newcastle, whereas French striker Frederic Piquionne also faces a race against time to be fit for the game.
Manager Avram Grant will be hoping he can guide his side to the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup and help ease off the pressure on him. The Israeli is under heavy criticism from the Hammers faithful after a woeful start to the season.
West Ham have only managed to score 6 points out of their opening 9 matches in the Premier League, their only win coming against fellow Londoners Tottenham Hotspur. Victory against Tottenham came after The Irons came out victorious in the 3rd round of the League Cup against Sunderland. If The Hammers manage to win against Stoke on Wednesday, Grant will be hoping his team takes heart from the triumph and truly kick-start their season.
The former Chelsea coach said, “We won at Sunderland in the last round and this gave us a big lift forward for the league. We played well against a difficult team and then won against Tottenham. We want to do the same again”
Stoke boss Tony Pulis has Higginbotham and former Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen available for the match. Turkish international Tuncay is also expected to feature in the match after his superb finish against the Red Devils on Sunday.
The Potters’ only League Cup success came back in 1972, when they beat Chelsea in the final, while The Hammers will be looking to advance into the last 8 for the 2nd time since 1999.
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