Betting: Stoke revival to continue as West Ham’s hoodoo returns to haunt
BOTH West Ham and Stoke have improved of late, seeing their early season relegation worries dissipate for now.
Slaven Bilic’s side performed above all expectations last year but have since struggled to settle into their new surroundings at the London Stadium.
However, three wins in their last four games has seen the Hammers climb out of the Premier League dropzone.
They suffered a setback at the weekend when losing to Everton, so tomorrow’s opponents Stoke will be wary of a Claret and Blue backlash.
But the Potters are buoyant after three victories on the bounce.
Summer loan signing Wilfried Bony opened his account with a double against former side Swansea on Monday and Xherdan Shaqiri is grabbing headlines with some of his trademark thunderbolts.
Joe Allen has also earned plaudits in his new No. 10 role at the Britannia Stadium.
The Wales international has pushed Bojan out of the starting line-up in what looks to have been a shrewd move by Mark Hughes.
The £13million summer signing is already level with his career best of four goals and continues to flourish in the new role.
Stoke will be wary of Hammers’ star man Dimitri Payet, but the Frenchman is yet to scale the heights of last season or Euro 2016 yet this term.
West Ham haven’t managed to beat the Potters in any of the last six meetings and with that in mind I’ll be buying Stoke at 9.75 on Sporting Index’s win index.
If the match is drawn, you’ll make a very small profit, if Stoke make it four-in-a-row you’ll win just over 15 times your stake and if West Ham land the spoils you’ll lose just under 10 times your stake.
That looks a decent bet for an away team who have seemingly turned the corner.
Pointers
Buy Stoke win index 9.75 (Sporting Index)