West Ham United can guarantee a spot in the 2016/17 Europa League with a road win at the Britannia Stadium in Stoke City in the season finale of the English Premier League this Sunday, May 15th. They put themselves in this position with a big 3-2 win over Manchester United on Tuesday night in the club’s last ever game at their Upton Park/Boleyn Ground stadium. The London side will move into the Olympic Stadium for the next Premier League campaign. No matter what the result of the game is though, Stoke will be resigned to a mediocre mid-table finish this season. The hosts’ last outing was a 2-1 loss at Selhurst Park in London to Crystal Palace.
Bet on Stoke City vs West Ham United – Pinnacle SOCCER BETTING LINE:
- Pinnacle currently lists West Ham United as the favorites to win at +114 with Stoke +245 and a draw at +280
Stoke City vs West Ham United – Head to Head:
- These two sides met each other back on December 12th and played to a 0-0 draw in London. They drew 1-1 at Upton Park last season and played to a 2-2 stalemate at the Britannia. Stoke is unbeaten in their past five meetings with two wins and three draws. The Hammers last win was 1-0 in a league game at Stoke in March of 2013. The clubs have met 93 times in the past with West Ham winning 36, losing 33 and drawing the other 24. West Ham has won just three of the last 13 meetings with five draws and five losses.
The sixth-place Hammers could still technically finish as high as fourth or fifth place if both Manchester United and Manchester City lose on Sunday. However, Man City has a far superior goal difference than the London club, so it looks like fifth is as high as they’ll go if they can pass Man United, who sit one point ahead of them. However, West Ham is just two points ahead of seventh-place Southampton and three up on eighth-place Liverpool, so they could slide down to ninth place if those teams win and West Ham loses by enough goals to alter the goal difference.
Stoke enters the match in 10th place with 48 points from 13 wins, nine draws and 15 losses with just 39 goals scored and 54 allowed. Stoke has seven wins at the Britannia to go along with four draws and seven defeats while scoring 20 times and conceding 23. They have five clean sheets at home and have been shut out there six times. Overall, they’ve held the opposition goalless on five occasions and have failed to find the net themselves in 13 games. Stoke has two wins, two losses and two draws in their last six home matches and have just two draws in their last six fixtures overall.
West Ham occupies sixth place with 62 points from their 16 victories, 14 draws and seven defeats. They’ve scored 64 times this campaign and have allowed 49 goals against. The Hammers have seven wins in their 18 away games along with seven draws and four losses while scoring 30 goals and allowing 23 against. The side has recorded 11 clean sheets this season with five of them coming on the road. They’ve failed to find the back of the net just five times with four of their goalless contests coming on their travels. West Ham has two victories, three draws and a loss in their past half dozen road encounters.