Big Match Breakdown: Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United
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There’s a second London derby in as many days tonight as Tottenham Hotspur welcome West Ham United to Wembley.
Both sides will be buoyed following positive victories on Tuesday night.
Spurs overcame tricky conditions to see off Swansea City 2-0. Meanwhile, West Ham came from behind to edge out West Bromwich Albion 2-1 at the London Stadium.
The Coral News Team look ahead to tonight’s match.
Head-to-Head
This will be the third meeting between the two sides this season.
Tottenham won the first Premier League battle of the season. Harry Kane scored twice as the North Londoners picked up a 3-2 win in East London.
Just over a month later the Hammers turned the tables on their rivals with a 3-2 win of their own at Wembley. Andre Ayew bagged a brace that day as Slaven Bilic’s men came from 2-0 down to advance through to the next round of the Carabao Cup.
West Ham are winless on their last three visits to Tottenham but have won on both of their previous visits to the new Wembley Stadium.
Likely XIs
Kane came off the bench against Swansea on Tuesday night. He’s expected to start in place of Fernando Llorente this evening. Serge Aurier and Harry Winks could also return to the line-up.
James Collins and Aaron Cresswell are expected to miss out for the Hammers. That should mean a third league start of the season for Declan Rice. Mark Noble and Marko Arnautovic may also be recalled.
Key Battles
The visitors could find it tough to contain the attacking prowess of Kane. The England ace has six goals in his last five games against the Hammers, including a brace earlier this season.
David Moyes has tightened up the Irons defence, but Kane – with Dele Alli, Christian Eriksen and Son Heung-min in support – will be a tough proposition.
West Ham have scored five times against Spurs so far this season. Three of those goals came from headers. Andy Carroll returned to form with a double on Tuesday night and will cause problems for the hosts.
If Mauricio Pochettino’s men don’t close down in wide areas and let Carroll slip, they could be in trouble again.
Match Odds
Tottenham are the overwhelming favourites for the contest at 2/7. That makes West Ham considerable value at 10/1. You can back the draw at 9/2.
One thing that the Coral News Team are confident of is that there will be goals. This fixture has seen 16 goals scored in its last four iterations. It’s 19/20 for Both Teams to Score and 19/10 for Tottenham to Win and Both Teams to Score.
In terms of goalscorers, Kane doesn’t make much appeal at 1/2 Anytime. However, he could be a shout at 13/2 to bag yet another hat-trick. Arnautovic looks the most likely scorer for the Hammers at 10/3 Anytime.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing
