English Premier League - Match Preview: West Ham United vs. Stoke City
The London Club, West Ham United continue their bid to get their first Premier League points this season, as they take on Stoke City this weekend.
West Ham have mostly been on the receiving end in all 4 of their English Premier League matches so far. Hammers first lost 3-0 to Aston Villa, followed by a 3-1 loss to Bolton. Next was a visit to Manchester United and it also ended with a 3-0 score-line.
Fellow Londoners, Chelsea didn’t do them any favors either. The only victory for them came in the Carling Cup which was 1-0 against Oxford United.
Meanwhile, Stoke City picked up their first league points last week. It was Robert Huth’s towering header that got them a 2-1 win against Aston Villa. Before that, Tony Pulis’ team suffered defeats at the hands of Wolves (2-1), Chelsea (2-0) and also Tottenham
(2-1). Same as their next opponents, Stoke also made it to the 3rd round of the Carling Cup by beating Shrewsbury Town (2-1).
West Ham manager, Avram Grant won’t be managing the team this weekend while the defender, Tal Ben Haim would also be missing the action due to Yom Kippur. Both these Israelis will be observing this Jewish religious day on 18th September 2010.
Meanwhile, the biggest 4-1 win for West Ham against Stoke City till now came during 1958’s Division 2. The two debutants from last match, Lars Jacobsen and Victor Obinna are expected to keep their places after their impressive first outings. Also, James
Tomkins or Winston Reid would be taking the place of Tel Ben Haim in the defense while Danny Gabbidon or Manuel da Costa may also be in contention to get a place in the defense.
The South African striker, Benni McCarthy might also return to the first XI as he was impressive against Oxford United. Thomas Hitzlsperger may not be able to play due to his injury. There are a number of players in the West Ham team who are on the list
of long term injuries. This list includes Peter Kurucz, Jack Collison, Zavon Hines and Anthony Edgar. Kurucz and Edgar have recently undergone surgery.
On the other hand, Stoke City will not have the services of Mamady Sidibe while Pulis doesn’t seem to have any other injury worries, so he might play in the match. Both these teams last met in March this year at the Boleyn Ground but it was Stoke City who
got a hard fought 1-0 win. It would be the 78th match between them. Till now, Hammers have a slight upper hand with 31 wins while Stoke have won 29. Similarly, 18 matches ended in a draw.
Although, West Ham are without any points in the EPL so far but they would still have an upper hand at the Britannia Stadium. Meanwhile, Stoke City can hold their own when it comes to home ties but a fiercely contested affair is expected.
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