Ryan's Match Preview: West Ham v Stoke(Carling Cup)

The Carling Cup is always a tournament I think Stoke should take very seriously and with a win tonight, the quarter finals could be ahead. Upton Park the venue, West Ham the team, quarter final the prize. Especially recently West Ham have become a kind of 'rival' for the Potters which obviously fires up this fixture. With West Hams poor start to the season, they will be gunning to get a win to infuse confidence into the team. This won't be an easy game at all. West Ham should be without captain Matthew Upson and striker Frederic Piquionne. Other absentees are summer signing Thomas Hitzlsperger, Zavon Hines and also Jack Collison. For Stoke, Dean Whitehead could come back after a suspension leading to him missing the Man Utd game. Ricardo Fuller could miss the game with his ongoing shoulder injury. Danny Collins may miss the game after coming off against United. Expected starts are there for Tuncay, who scored a fabulous goal versus Man Utd and also keeper Asmir Begovic, who is expected to start ahead of Thomas Sorenson because of an aggrevating elbow. For the Hammers, striker Frank Nouble has been re-called from a Swansea loan and could start for Grants, bottom of the league, team. Predicted Teams: Stoke XI (Begovic; Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Higginbotham; Walters, Wilson, Whitehead, Tuncay; Jones, Gudjohnsen.) West Ham XI (Green; Jacobsen, Ben-Haim, Gabbidon, Da Costa; Behrami, Parker, Noble; Obinna, Nouble, Cole.) My Prediction: Tuncay proves his worth with a hat-trick in the first half, Gudjohnsen finishes a rout in the second half. Stoke 4 - 0 West Ham. Ryan Summerfield, @RSummers7