West Ham United striker Diafra Sakho (R) competes for the ball against Manchester United's Daley Blind. (Photo : Getty Images)
Middling squad Stoke City FC (13-15-9, 48 points) is slated to face contending team West Ham United FC (16-7-14, 62 points) at the Britannia Stadium on May 15th, Sunday for the two team's final fixture of the 2015-2016 Premier League season.
Stoke City is currently at the 10th spot of the English top flight table, 14 points above the bottom three relegation zone and also 14 points below the last Europa League slot held by West Ham United.
This means that this last match does not have much of a bearing for Mark Hughes' side than it is for West Ham.
The Potters are coming off a 1-2 defeat in the hands of Crystal Palace at the Selhurst Park last Saturday, their sixth consecutive winless effort and fourth loss in their last six outings, as reported by BBC Sport.
Midfielder Charlie Adam opened the scoring for Stoke City at the 26th minute, but a double from the Eagles' Dwight Gayle at the 47th and 68th led Palace to the come-from-behind victory.
Meanwhile, West Ham edged fellow contenders Manchester United, 3-2, at their home ground of Upton Park on Tuesday to narrow the gap between the two teams in the overall standings at only a point, as per SkySports.
Striker Diafra Sakho broke the deadlock early at the 10th minute before United forward Anthony Martial scored two successive goals, at the 51st and 72nd, as the visitors took a 2-1 lead.
The hosts were not to be denied, though, as they netted the final two goals of the contest at the 76th and 80th courtesy of Michail Antonio and Winston Reid to come away with the win.
This match against Stoke City is significant for the Hammers as a win and another United loss means they will overtake them for the fifth spot in the league table.
If Slaven Bilić's boys should lose, then they are in danger of losing their Europa League berth to Southampton in the event that the latter will gain victory over Crystal Palace in their own season finale.
The predicted result is a 3-0 rout for West Ham United.
Stoke City starting lineup (4-2-3-1 formation): Haugaard; Bardsley, Shawcross, Cameron, Pieters; Whelan, Imbula; Shaqiri, Adam, Arnautovic; Crouch
West Ham United starting lineup (4-4-2 formation): Randolph; Antonio, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell; Lanzini, Kouyaté, Noble, Payet; Sakho, Carroll
