The battle for the last Europa League spots is officially on. The last day of the EPL season will determine who will and will not be able to play European soccer next season. West Ham has put itself in a position to be able to do so, but it will need a result against Stoke City at the Britannia to stay there.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Stoke City +147
West Ham +170
Draw +250
Over/Under 3 (under -128)
ODDS ANALYSIS
Stoke City really has nothing to play for in this match short of the right to finish in the top half of the table. The Potters, for our money, have been a bit disappointing this season, as we figured they would've cleared at least 55 points or so and are sitting on 48 with a match left to play.
West Ham is on 62 and is preparing for its move to Olympic Stadium next season after closing the doors to Boleyn Ground on Wednesday night. A win would guarantee a spot in the Top 6 and a Europa League bid for next year, though any point will at least keep it in the discussion as no worse than the seventh place finisher. Slaven Bilic won't want to leave anything to chance though, and the only way to ensure international competition in WHU's new digs is to win this match.
In spite of the motivation factor, the Potters are the favorites at +147 to claim the three points. The affair will be a close run thing for sure, and we expect to see goals flying in all over the place. The number to beat is a flat 3 with the vig on the under coming in at -128.
KEY INJURIES
Injuries really ended up getting the better of Stoke City at the end of the year. The newest knock came to Stephen Ireland who broke his leg in training earlier this week. Not only will he miss this match and Euro 2016 for his homeland, Ireland, but he could end up on the shelf at the beginning of the Premier League campaign next year as well.
Ireland adds to an injury list which also includes Jack Butland, Shay Given, Glen Johnson and Marc Wilson, none of which will play in the finale.
West Ham is merely only playing without Adrian. It's a big injury for sure, and play in net was suspect as a result of the first-team goalie's absence against Manchester United. We can't imagine Adrian has a real shot of getting back in the pipes from his calf injury in just a few days.
LIVE BETTING
This wasn't a great run-in for Stoke City this year. In fairness, the Potters haven't needed much with relegation long out of the discussion, but Mark Hughes was expected to do more with his side. The team hasn't won a match since March 19, going 0-2-4 since then with three losses by at least three goals in the mess.
West Ham rebounded nicely from its 4-1 loss to Swansea City last weekend with the big 3-2 win over Manchester United. That's now nine straight over matches for the Hammers dating all the way back to the beginning of April. They've conceded at least once in eight of the nine matches and have scored in all nine, putting in multiple strikes in six of the nine.
QUICK PICK
One really has to be careful with West Ham in this match. The team won its Super Bowl just a few short days ago against Manchester United, and it now has to keep its feet on the ground and finish the job this year against Stoke City.
Unfortunately, we think the Hammers are going to come up short and be left to sweat about a Europa League spot.
This line is just too sharp to ignore. Stoke City really doesn't have the form to be the favored side in this one, even playing at home.
In an otherwise rough season, Stoke will find some solace from Marko Arnautovic and Bojan Krkic in its last match to at least salvage a draw to put a real hurting on the Hammers.
EPL Odds: Stoke City 2, West Ham 2
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