Nick Hext backs West Ham as favourites for victory at home to Stoke in the Premier League on Monday night.
West Ham United v Stoke City (2000 BST, Sky Sports Main Event)
Time is running out for Stoke in the scrap to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
The Potters sit five points away from safety ahead of the latest round of top-flight matches. That's courtesy of their appalling goal difference of -33, which is worse than bottom-of-the-table West Brom on -26.
It’s all going wrong for Stoke and I can’t see an end to a four-match losing run when they travel to West Ham on Monday night.
Paul Lambert's squad is in complete disarray. On-loan forward Jese is reportedly AWOL after his latest spell of compassionate leave to visit his sick son in Spain, Saido Berahino has been sent to the under-23s after turning up late for a reserves game, Ibrahim Afellay has been told to stay away from the club because of his disruptive influence and Erik Pieters was fined for breaking a curfew before last month's defeat at home to Everton.
Not a great indication of the discipline within Stoke's ranks.
The Potters have only won once in 15 games since Boxing Day so it's hard to see them getting the minimum of three wins required from their final five matches to avoid the drop.
West Ham have pulled away from the relegation zone on the back of a 3-0 win at home to Southampton and 1-1 draw on the road at Chelsea.
Those results followed on from the unrest from supporters during the 3-0 defeat against Burnley and it's credit to David Moyes that he's managed to avoid the hyperbole and get the Hammers out of trouble.
West Ham now sit 14th and they've won four and drawn one of the five home games against the teams currently sitting below them in the standings.
Swansea, Huddersfield, Southampton and West Brom have all lost at the London Stadium this season and Crystal Palace picked up a 1-1 draw at the end of January.
Former Stoke forward Marko Arnautovic is the main threat to his former club. The Austria international netted a double in the recent victory over Southampton.
He's 6/4 to net on Monday night but I'm happy just to take a slice of the Hammers to collect maximum points.
A home win is available at around even-money across the board and that's well worth an interest.
Prediction: West Ham 2-0 Stoke (Sky Bet's odds: 15/2)
Best bet: West Ham to beat Stoke
Alternative bet: West Ham to beat Stoke to nil
Posted at 1900 BST at 13/04/18
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