Things are going south for West Ham United. The Hammers were one of the surprises of the first few months of the Premier League season, but have since fallen off dramatically after Christmas. Tottenham’s Harry Kane, on the other hand, has been a star on the rise. The young striker will once again lead the Spurs’ attack that will look to deal another big blow to the Hammers’ hopes of returning to past form.
Read on below as we preview this all-London affair. Speaking of London, check out our preview of the Chelsea vs. PSG round of 16 second leg to be held in Stamford Bridge.
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Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Ham United Betting Preview
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Although they’re not direct historical rivals, Tottenham and West Ham still have the slight sense of animosity that comes with any same-city club. If results go their way, Tottenham can jump back into the top five with a home win. As for West Ham, they are in desperate need of a win to end a very poor run of games that has seen them slip to eighth in the table.
Betting on Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham gave a resurgent Liverpool all they could handle at Anfield, coming back from a goal behind twice. However, Mario Balotelli’s late winner was one goal too many as they lost 3-2 last Tuesday. The loss snapped Spurs’ three-game Premier League winning run.
Harry Kane’s scoring run didn’t end, though, as he notched his 23rd goal (in all competitions) in what has been a magical first season. Kane is tied for third in the Premier League goal charts with 13, five of which have come in his last three league games.
Look for Kane to be the danger man against a West Ham team that has a much worse defensive record away from home (17 away goals conceded) this season.
Work rate has been essential to Tottenham’s success under first-year manager Mauricio Pochettino, whose system can be physically taxing. Spurs had over a week off from their last Premier League match, but their fitness will be put to the test against West Ham as it comes just two days after their Europa League first leg tie with Fiorentina.
Tottenham have been a mixed bag this season in their league matches after a midweek Europa League fixture. They won four and lost four in those eight occasions, but they had an extra day’s rest in all eight.
Create a betting account now and cash in on a potentially profitable (dis)advantage in the Premier League.
Betting on West Ham United
A once promising season for West Ham has quickly turned sour. It all turned for the Hammers on Boxing Day with a 2-0 loss to Chelsea. Since then, West Ham has won just two of their last 11 matches in all competitions, and those came against relegation-threatened Hull and at lower-league Bristol City in the FA Cup.
The Hammers showed signs of turning things around by holding two of the top four (Manchester United and Southampton) to consecutive draws. However, any momentum from those results was quickly erased by a 4-0 FA Cup drubbing at the hands of West Brom on Valentine’s Day.
A big reason for West Ham’s recent poor run has been their sheer inability to score goals. They’ve only scored more than one goal twice in 11 matches, and those came in back-to-back games against Everton and Hull. Since then, they’ve found the net just two times more in their last five games.
At the very least, West Ham should be able to create a fair number of chances on goal against Tottenham, which struggle in preventing those goalscoring opportunities. Leading scorer Diafra Sakho (eight goals this season) will be need to step up since his strike partner Enner Valencia hasn’t scored a Premier League goal since Nov. 1, while Andy Carroll (five goals) is out for the season with a knee injury.
Writer’s Prediction
Tottenham feel the effects of the quick turnaround and labor to a 1-1 draw.
