West Ham vs Tottenham Preview

Sam Allardyce has been forced to endure a good deal of fan protest against his management of West Ham in recent weeks, as the Hammers have slumped to a series of embarrassing defeats. It is not merely the quality of results which concerns West Ham supporters, but also the lack of élan in the style of football promoted and preferred by Allardyce. While this can be tolerated when the team is acquiring satisfactory results, after a run of defeats it would appear that many Hammers fans consider it no longer tolerable.

Many would argue that simply keeping West Ham in the division is an adequate achievement, particularly given the number of injuries that they’ve been forced to endure this term. But Allardyce has become an unpopular figure, and if West Ham lose this London derby to Tottenham then calls for his sacking will only grow stronger.

If Allardyce is to some extent a dead man walking, then Tim Sherwood must surely be one already exhumed. It seems an absolute racing certainty that Sherwood will be replaced at the end of the season by an experienced European manager, despite the passion and enthusiasm he has brought to the role. Whether Spurs have genuinely improved under Sherwood is debatable, but the club looks to be reasonably placed to push for a top four place next season, assuming that some of the £100 million worth of talent that Spurs shelled out on after selling Gareth Bale begins to pull its weight. So both of these teams come into this game in something of a state of malaise. Neither has much to play for, although West Ham haven’t mathematically ensured their Premier League place for next season yet. Realistically, though, it would take an incredibly unlikely sequence of results at this stage for West Ham to be relegated. Tottenham could also yet catch Everton, and a win would pretty much ensure that they finish ahead of Manchester United, but most Spurs fans will view these achievements as pretty meaningless, given that the club desperately craves Champions League football.

This game can be considered pretty much a dead rubber then. But who will come out on top? Well, Tottenham’s home form hasn’t been too bad this season. Ultimately, it has been a little short of what is required to get into the top four, but they’ve won twice as many matches as they’ve lost, although they did lose against the Hammers earlier this term. But their away form has been absolutely outstanding, in fact surprisingly they have accrued as many points at home as any team in the division. West Ham’s home form hasn’t been great the Hammers have won six and lost nine at home, and they’ve also lost three of their last four matches at Upton Park.

All of this, and the potentially unsavoury atmosphere which could ensue should West Ham go behind, points to a Tottenham victory. The reality is that they are a far better team than West Ham on paper, with superior players in every position, and have won twice as many games and collected nearly twice as many points as the Hammers. I fancy Spurs to sneak a win here.

Safe Bet – Tottenham win
Value Bet – Tottenham to win by 1 goal

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02/05/2014     © Frixo 2026