Tottenham will look to bounce back to winning ways in the Premier League on Saturday, when they travel to the London Stadium
Premier League action returns on the weekend with Gameweek 6. Kicking off the weekend’s action on Saturday are bitter rivals West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur, in what is expected to be a hotly contested London derby at the London Stadium.
West Ham United have enjoyed some sort of a turnaround in fortunes over the last two weeks, having taken four points from their last two games in the Premier League. Their most recent outing saw Slaven Bilic’s men progress to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-0 win over Bolton Wanderers.
Tottenham, meanwhile, have had a slow start to the season, managing to win just two of their first five games in the Premier League, including a dismal winless record at home. But Spurs, too, come into this match on the back of a positive result, although they were made to work hard for 1-0 win in the Carabao Cup.
The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 1-0 win for West Ham as Manuel Lanzini scored the only goal of the match to hand all three points to the hosts. Ahead of their latest meeting on Saturday, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter.
Team News & Tactics
West Ham United
Slaven Bilic has a few major injury concerns to contend with ahead of the visit of Tottenham on Saturday. The West Ham boss is, in fact, set to be without the services of as many as four first-team players due to various fitness issues.
Pedro Obiang (knock) and James Collins (ankle) are the latest players to join the treatment table having been taken off early in the match against West Bromwich Albion last weekend. The duo have joined Manuel Lanzini (knee) and Edmilson Fernandes (ankle), who are both nearing their return to action.
Bilic though, is set to welcome captain Mark Noble back to action with the English midfielder recovering from a short-term knee injury. Noble is expected to slot back into the starting lineup, alongside Cheikhou Kouyate at the heart of the West Ham defence.
Up front, Marko Arnautovic is back in contention in attack for the first time since Gameweek 2 after serving his three-match ban. However, he is only likely to start on the bench after being involved in League Cup action in midweek.
Possible Starting XI (3-4-3): Hart; Fonte, Reid, Ogbonna; Zabaleta, Kouyate, Noble, Cresswell; Antonio, Carroll, Hernandez
Tottenham Hotspur
Unlike his counterpart in the West Ham dugout, Mauricio Pochettino does not have any fresh injury concerns to deal with ahead. Therefore, the Tottenham boss continues to be without three first-team players ahead of the trip to the London Stadium to take on the Hammers.
Victor Wanyama continues to remain sidelined with a knee injury, although he is expected to return to action post the international break in October. However, Danny Rose (knee) and Erik Lamela (hip) are long-term absentees, and are still several weeks away from regaining full fitness.
Pochettinho, though, should be able to recall Ben Davies back to the starting lineup after the Welshman missed the match against Swansea last weekend due to a knock on his ankle. Harry Kane is also expected to return to the eleven after sitting out the midweek cup tie against Barnsley.
The Tottenham boss will be looking up to his star striker to return to goalscoring form after a disappointing result against Swansea last weekend. But, the Englishman will need some support from Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen, both of whom have been inconsistent thus far.
Possible Starting XI (3-4-2-1): Lloris; Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen; Trippier, Dier, Dembele, Davies; Eriksen, Alli; Kane
Key Stats
- Tottenham have lost three of their last four Premier League games away at West Ham United (W1 D0 L3), failing to score in each of these three defeats.
- West Ham United could, in fact, win three consecutive home derbies against Tottenham for only the second time.
- Tottenham are looking to win their opening three away games in a top flight campaign for the first time since 1991-92.
- Additionally, Tottenham could equal their club record of five consecutive Premier League away wins, set from December 2013 to January 2014.
- West Ham United are vying to win their opening two Premier League home games for the first time since 2012-13.
Betting Odds
Favourable Bets
1. Tottenham to beat West Ham @1.60
2. Harry Kane to score anytime @1.80
Player To Watch
Javier Hernandez
Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez was a popular returnee to the Premier League earlier this summer as West Ham United signed the Mexican striker to solve the goalscoring woes that often plagued them last season.
However, some of the problems remain despite the arrival of the prolific striker. It doesn’t help either the player or the Hammers that manager Slaven Bilic has chosen to deploy Hernandez on the left side of the attack, away from his preferred central position.
On Saturday though, a lot depends on Hernandez if West Ham are to win a third consecutive London derby against Spurs at home. The Mexico international will also have to break his duck against Tottenham if he is to lead his side to a popular win. Should he get ninth time lucky, West Ham could just be on their way to a massive win.
Prediction
West Ham United 1-2 Tottenham Hotspur
Saturday’s early kick-off pits two sides that have hardly had an ideal start to their 2017-18 Premier League campaign. While Spurs have had a lot of troubles at home, West Ham have struggled on the road.
And while the Hammers started their home campaign in style two weeks ago, Tottenham have won each their away games so far. On Saturday though, at least one of the perfect records will come to an end as Slaven Bilic’s men host their bitter London rivals.
But even though the hosts seemed to have turned a corner over the last two weeks, the threat of Spurs’ attack might just be too big to neutralise. Therefore, The Hard Tackle predicts an odd-goal win for the visitors, with Harry Kane a likely goalscorer.