Premier League preview: West Ham v Stoke City

15 November 2012 13:17

West Ham United can continue their remarkable run in the Premier League, when they clash with Stoke City at Upton Park on Monday.

Few favoured West Ham to take any points from a home clash with Manchester City and a trip to face Newcastle United. But the promoted side defied the odds with a scoreless draw against the champions followed by a 1-0 victory at St James Park.

West Ham are sixth on the English Premier League table with 18 points, above the likes of European regulars Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.

Sam Allardyce's men also boast one of the best defensive records in the top flight, having conceded only 11 goals.

"Everyone in the team defends," Ivory Coast international Guy Demel told the West Ham website.

"Of course there is the back four and the keeper, but the whole team defends. When the first defender is the striker then everything works well."

Stoke moved to 12th place following a gritty 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers last weekend.

Forward Kenwyne Jones hopes the result will lead to further goals in crucial clashes against West Ham, Fulham and Newcastle.

"We need to put a few results together, mainly wins," he told This is Staffordshire.

"I think we need to get at least seven points from the next three games. Hopefully that will take us even further up the table because if we stay in this mode of drawing games it will become a bit too much coming down to the business end of the season.

"Being 12th guarantees you nothing. We need to keep putting the results together so we can move further and further away from the pack below."