Stoke City have lost four games on the trot, with their last league fixture ending in a 1-2 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur at home. The Potters are due to face West Ham United at the London Stadium on Monday and they must try to bag all three points against David Moyes’ men to boost their survival hopes.
Stoke City Team News
Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting is nursing his groin injury and is expected to get back on the pitch very soon. While Charlie Adam is suspended for the fixture, Lee Grant is out because of a broken wrist. Konstantinos Stafylidis will also be unavailable for the clash against the Irons due to his broken rib.
Here is how we expect Paul Lambert to roll out his starting line-up against the Hammers.
Goalkeeper
There is no denying that Jack Butland has not been all that great under the bar this season but one of the main reasons for the same is the lack of resilience showcased by his side’s back line. Nonetheless, he is set to make yet another start.
Defence
Erik Pieters is likely to start from the left-back slot once again. He has flattered to deceive many times this season but Lambert doesn’t really have too many options up his sleeve. Meanwhile, Glen Johnson is expected to keep his place on the right.
Kurt Zouma and Ryan Shawcross are likely to start at the heart of the defence. The duo has failed to perform consistently this season and which is one of the reasons why they are struggling at the bottom end of the table. Bruno Martins Indi could be on the bench for this one.
Midfield
Moritz Bauer and Ramadan Sobhi should keep their place on the right and left side of the midfield respectively. While Bauer has many areas to improve on, Sobhi has been quite good with his trickery and pace. They need to stretch the opposition defence and be accurate with their crossing.
Joe Allen has scored some important goals this season and has offered his solidity in the middle of the park. Allen is set to be partnered with Badou N’Diaye, who was commendable against Spurs and certainly deserves to get the nod.
Attack
Mame Biram Diouf is expected to lead the line once again for Stoke City. To support him, we expect Lambert to use Xherdan Shaqiri as the central attacking midfielder and it goes without saying that the Swiss international has to put in a big performance for the team to have any chance of survival.
