Struggling West Ham might have wished for an easier opponent as they seek to recover from a slow start to the season, but they will have to face fellow London side Tottenham at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday. Last season West Ham won this fixture 1-0 after having lost 3-2 at White Hart Lane earlier in the campaign. The Hammers have a very good record at home against the Spurs, they have won three of the last four meetings at home and have not lost in front of their own fans against Tottenham since 2014.
West Ham started the season with three consecutive Premier League defeats and only got consolation from a 2-0 victory over Cheltenham in the League Cup. They recovered after the international break and secured a 2-0 Premier League victory over Huddersfield, a goalless draw at West Brom last weekend and a 3-0 League Cup win over Bolton this week. However, Tottenham is a much stronger side than those three mentioned before. James Collins and Manuel Lanzini are unavailable through injury.
Tottenham have lost just one match this season in all competitions, 2-1 at home against champions Chelsea. However, they had a couple of disappointing draws at Wembley, 1-1 with Burnley and 0-0 last weekend against Swansea. This week they secured a narrow 1-0 victory in League Cup over Barnsley. Erik Lamela, Danny Rose and Victor Wanyama are still injured for Tottenham, but manager Mauricio Pochettino might have Ben Davies available again after the left-back missed last weekend's match due to an ankle issue.
Probable line-ups:
West Ham: Hart - Fonte, Reid, Ogbonna - Zabaleta, Kouyate, Obiang, Cresswell - Antonio, Carroll, Chicharito
Tottenham: Lloris - Alderweireld, Sanchez, Vertonghen - Aurier, Dier, Dembele, Davies - Eriksen, Alli - Kane
My prediction: Tottenham to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
West Ham win - 5.75
Draw - 4.00
Tottenham win - 1.57
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