Stoke City welcomes West Ham in a match from the 30th round of the English Premier League. Until the last few rounds, both teams were in danger of being relegated into the Championship, but with some good matches they are on six points above the relegation zone. Stoke lost just four of their last ten matches in the league, while West Ham are even better with just three losses in the recent months.
Stoke recorded prestigious victories over Arsenal and Manchester United, while West Ham have made four consecutive wins in February.
Anyone who watched the matches of Stoke and West Ham and knows the work of both managers Mark Hughes and Sam Allardyce knows that these two teams are among the last few which practice the typical English football with many battles, crosses and not so many goals.
This is shown by the statistics, according to which in the last three head to head matches the two teams have scored only four goals and all three matches have ended with less than 2.5 goals scored by both teams. The last time when in a West Ham match as a guest were scored more than two goals came on the first day of 2014 when the Hammers lost by 2-1 to Fulham. The hosts from Stoke haven’t score more than a goal in their last two matches at Britannia Stadium.
What do the bookies offer for this seemingly obvious bet on under 2.5 goals scored by both teams? Bet at home offers 1.55, while the bet365’s proposal is 1.57. The most generous is William Hill, which offers 1.6.
The odds are not very good and a possible bet on the goal markets seems not justified. Unfortunately, all possible bets on the final outcome of the match are too unpredictable for making a really good bet.
However, if you want to bet on this match, my advice is to bet with small amount and to bet on a draw between Stoke and West Ham. The proposal for this bet with all three bookmakers is 3.2, which is not very good, but this is the world of betting.
The decision is yours.