West Ham v Spurs Match Preview

West Ham take on Tottenham in a fierce London derby at the London Stadium this weekend. Heading into this fixture, both teams are in contrasting form. The Hammers have enjoyed a remarkable start to 2021 under David Moyes and are fifth in the table on 42 points – their best return at this stage of the season since 1984. However, Spurs are really struggling to find any consistency in the Premier League and dropped down to ninth place in the league recently.

Form

West Ham comfortably defeated Sheffield United 3-0 last weekend to bounce back from a 1-0 loss in the FA Cup to Man United. In their last eight Premier League games, West Ham have only lost once, drawn once and taken 19 points since the beginning of 2021. Only top of the table side Man City have a gained more points than the Hammers this year.

The London Stadium has been a real fortress for West Ham this season. David Moyes’ side have won four of their last five matches at home. The East London side have also lost just two of their last 14 in all competitions at home.

Tottenham lost 3-0 to Man City last weekend – the North London side’s sixth loss in their last seven matches in all competitions. Tottenham have only taken seven points from the last 21 available in the Premier League and have lost four of their last five.

Away from home, Jose Mourinho’s side have struggled recently. Spurs have lost their last two games away from home and have also failed to find the net in both of these games. Also, in their last seven away games, Spurs have won one, drawn three and lost three, given this run of form, a lot of bookies have the London rivals West Ham as the favourites to win. A lot of bookies as featured on https://www.betting24.dk have West Ham down as the likely victors given that their manager, David Moyes seems to have instilled a winning mentality to the squad.

Key Players

Thomas Soucek continues to impress for West Ham. The towering midfielder has played every minute of the Premier League season for the Hammers and is their top scorer with eight goals.

Jesse Lingard has also been a positive signing for West Ham. The former Manchester United midfielder has rediscovered his best form for the Hammers over the past month and has already scored two goals in just three matches for his new club.

Although Spurs have struggled to find the net recently, the threat of Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane can never be underestimated. The two forwards have scored 26 goals between them this season – 72% of all Spurs’ league goals in the 2020/21 campaign.

Injuries

For West Ham, Fabian Balbuena and Michail Antonio may be in contention after their recent injuries. However, the Hammers will definitely be without Arthur Masuaku (knee), Angelo Ogbonna (ankle) and Andriy Yarmolenko (knee).

Serge Aurier and Sergio Reguilon should be back in Tottenham’s squad this weekend but the North Londoners will still be without Giovani Lo Celso (thigh).

Likely to Win

West Ham look unstoppable on current form. The Hammers continue to impress every week and David Moyes has found a regular team that balances defence and attack extremely well.

This will cause problems for Spurs. Jose Mourinho’s side have struggled to find alternative goalscoring sources outside of Kane and Son and their defence looks short on confidence.

A home win is likely here. However, Spurs do have a good recent record against West Ham, winning five of the last six meetings in all competitions.