West Ham United and Tottenham will be looking to hit the ground running after the international break as they clash in a London derby at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday. Last season Tottenham pulled off a spectacular 3-2 victory at West Ham thanks to a pair of goals from Harry Kane, then the Hammers got their revenge with a 3-2 victory in the League Cup, and then the two teams produced a 1-1 draw at Wembley in the Premier League. Overall, West Ham have won three of the last six direct matches in all competitions, while Tottenham only grabbed two victories out of those six games.
West Ham had a good run of four matches without defeat going on but it got snapped by a 1-0 defeat at Brighton just before the international break. That result left the Hammers down in 15th place in the Premier League table, way below expectations, and manager Manuel Pellegrini might find his position in danger if things don't improve very soon. The manager still has plenty of injury worries, as Winston Reid, Manuel Lanzini, Andy Carroll, Jack Wilshere and Carlos Sanchez are still out of contention. Moreover, Arthur Masuaku, Chicharito Hernandez and Robert Snodgrass are injury doubts ahead of Saturday's match.
Tottenham are on a three-game winning streak in the Premier League, but those three wins were against Brighton, Huddersfield and Cardiff. The 1-0 victory over Cardiff before the international break came just a few days after the Spurs suffered a comprehensive 4-2 beating at the hands of Barcelona in the Champions League. That was the fourth defeat of the season for Tottenham in all competitions, after having lost to Watford and Liverpool in the Premier League and at Inter Milan in the Champions League. Jan Vertonghen, Dele Alli and Vincent Janssen are injured, while Christian Eriksen, Victor Wanyama, Mousa Dembele and Danny Rose will have to go through late fitness tests.
Probable line-ups:
West Ham: Fabianski - Zabaleta, Balbuena, Diop, Masuaku - Noble, Rice, Obiang - Yarmolenko, Arnautovic, Anderson
Tottenham: Lloris - Trippier, Alderweireld, Sanchez, Davies - Dier, Winks - Son Heung-Min, Lamela, Moura - Kane
My prediction: Tottenham to win 2-1, it should be a tight match but the Spurs will most likely be able to edge past the Hammers.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
West Ham win - 4.20
Draw - 3.75
Tottenham win - 1.80
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