It has been a painful weekend for West Bromwich Albion as they have had to sit back and watch Black Country rivals Wolves and West Ham both win to leave them in second-bottom spot in the Premier League table.
Wolves thrashed Blackpool 4-0 at Molineux, while Avram Grant’s Hammers pulled off a surprise 3-1 win against a resurgent Liverpool to boost their battle to beat the drop.
Roy Hodgson’s men will get their opportunity to jump back out of the bottom three at Stoke on Monday evening, but the omens are not good as the Baggies have not won in the Potteries since 1982, while they have lost all three Premier League matches against Tony Pulis’ side to date without scoring a goal (Stoke 10/11 To Win).
Albion should be boosted by the return of key men Marek Cech and Youssef Mulumbu from respective groin and hamstring problems for the trip to the Britannia Stadium.
And Hodgson will hope they can inspire his team to a first win (3/1 Away Win) in five games as they could move up to 16th with three points, while a fourth draw (5/2 Draw) in their last five league outings would be enough to get them out of the relegation places.
Stoke will not have any sympathy for the Baggies’ plight and Pulis will be looking for his side to make it eight wins from nine in their last nine league meetings.
A win for the hosts will move them into the top ten, eight points clear of the relegation places and within touching distance of safety for another season.
Winger Matthew Etherington is rated doubtful for the game as he struggles to overcome a back injury, while Abdoulaye Faye is struggling with a hamstring strain.
Jon Walters is expected to keep his place in the side if he fails to recover in time while striker Mamady Sidibe will miss the rest of the season after rupturing his Achilles tendon last week.
John Carew snubbed West Brom to join Stoke on loan from Aston Villa in January and the Norwegian hitman will no doubt look to show the Baggies what they missed out on by grabbing a goal (9/2 First Goalscorer).
Looking at the game, everything points to a fifth successive home win for Stoke in all competitions and an eighth straight away defeat for West Brom.
However, if Hodgson can get his men fired up from the word go, they may profit from the fact Stoke are consistently slow starters to games, which is reflected by the statistic that they have yet to score a goal in the opening 15 minutes of a game so far this term.
The Potters are much stronger in the second half of games and have scored six goals later than the 90-minute mark – more than any other team in the Premier League.
Therefore, it could be that West Brom start well but are pushed on the back-foot as the game progresses, which is worth considering when pondering the outcome.
Prediction: Stoke 2 West Brom 1 @ 7/1
Value Bet: Half Time/Full Time: WBA/Stoke @ 25/1
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