Saturday, at 12:30, Tottenham and West Ham are challenging a high-intensity London derby where the hosts are in great need of success in the podium battle. The match counts for the 36th round of the English Championship.
With four wins in the last six official matches, Tottenham still lives out of the qualifying euphoria in the UEFA Champions League semifinals, but recent successes have been achieved at the limit, not in a categorical manner. Still without Aurier, Kane, Sissoko and Lamela, Mauricio Pochettino manager is looking to motivate his students for a better concentration on the season’s end. Spurs could finish on the podium, given the bad steps made by the top rivals, but the derby with West Ham becomes decisive in this respect. The guests come to the match without Carroll, Lanzini, Reid, Sanchez, Yarmolenko and Cresswell, and the Argentine golfer “Chicharito” Hernandez is uncertain. If Manuel Pellegrini fails to recover Hernandez, the offensive guest mission would be difficult.
Given that Tottenham’s last six successes have been won without a goal, we expect a solid new match from the Londoners, who have four wins in so many matches on the club’s new arena. Without winning eight consecutive shifts, West Ham has slowed down lately, seemingly happy with the midfield hierarchy. “Hammers” come after a 2-2 draw with Leicester, which followed a series of three consecutive failures: 1-2 with Manchester United, 0-2 with Chelsea and 0-2 with Everton. The white-bullet defense does not convincing, and Eriksen and Son should cause much danger to the opposing goal.
Instead, Tottenham has “successfully” negotiated “double” with Manchester City, the Champions League (3-4) and the championship (0-1), and then beat Brighton (1-0) limit. Eriksen’s goal scored three points, and Spurs would once again dominate the fans in front of their own fans. Tottenham has only one defeat in the last five direct duels with West Ham, which the blue-blues have defeated in a 1-0 tour, but also in the League Cup with 3-1 (both away games). It is possible to witness more goals in the second half when the game opens, depending on the score.
THE PROBABLE TEAMS AT TOTTENHAM – WEST HAM UNITED
Tottenham: Lloris, Trippier, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies, Dier, Wanyama, Eriksen, Alli, Son, Llorente
West Ham United: Fabianski, Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku, Rice, Noble, Anderson, Antonio, Arnautovic, Hernandez
PREDICTION: Tottenham to win @ 1,45
