West Ham-Tottenham is a match of the thirty-first day of the Premier League and is played on Tuesday at 9:15 pm: live TV, probable formations, predictions.
Tottenham last Saturday took a chance against third-last in the standings, Luton Town. Despite Spurs’ dominance in terms of ball possession, beating the stubborn Hatters proved to be a more difficult task than expected, and it was only thanks to a goal by captain Son in the final minutes (2-1) if the Londoners managed to fold the newly promoted side and stay in Aston Villa’s slipstream in the fierce race for fourth place.
Ange Postecoglou’s team always has to make up three points to the Villans, who, however, played an extra game. On balance, a tight battle looms to the end, although there is a chance that both will go to the Champions League if England occupy one of the top two positions in the rankings in May. In any case, the success over Luton is the third in the last four matches for Tottenham, in this streak defeated only by Fulham. Spurs in the midweek round are expected to play another exciting derby, this time against West Ham: they will have to travel a few miles further east. The Hammers are a full 12 points behind their cousins and are currently fighting for a different goal, which could be Europa League or Conference qualification.
David Moyes’ men for now, complicit in the continuing ups and downs, have to settle for seventh place and last Saturday squandered an opportunity to nibble points off sixth-placed Manchester United, which is +4.
The comeback suffered by the Hammers at home to Newcastle is unbelievable, considering that with 13 minutes to go they were ahead 3-1 and were already anticipating the sweet taste of three points. Waiting to play the long-awaited Europa League quarterfinal with Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham will try to regain a success that has been missing for exactly one month now. Moyes is not expected to upset the lineup that took the field at St. James’ Park: the only absence will be that of the disqualified Alvarez.
The prediction
West Ham is very erratic this year but remains a team capable of putting out strong performances even against stronger opponents on paper. We believe it will eventually manage to avoid defeat in the derby against a Tottenham side that certainly did not enchant with Luton. A prolific match looms, since both do not particularly shine in the non-possession phase of the ball.
The probable lineups for West Ham-Tottenham
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson Palmieri; Ward-Prowse, Soucek; Bowen, Paquetà, Kudus; Antonio.
TOTTENHAM (4-2-3-1): Vicario; Pedro Porro, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie; Sarr, Bissouma; Johnson, Maddison, Son; Richarlison.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
