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Tottenham vs West Ham – Premier League Match Preview

The final fixture of what has undoubtedly been a bumper festive fixture period takes us to Wembley as Tottenham play host to local rivals West Ham with Mauricio Pochettino’s men not only looking to be the single team to earn a maximum 12 points over this period but also exact some revenge for their Carabao Cup exit back in October.

That particular evening saw Tottenham take a 2-0 lead going into the break with not only the game looking all but wrapped up but also then Hammers boss Slaven Bilic looking a huge step closer to being shown the London Stadium exit door.

The former Croatian international must have given the team talk of his life as the East London outfit managed to turn the game on its head and dump Spurs out of the competition. A result that was bitter disappointment for the home side and one that ultimately gave Bilic a stay of execution in the West Ham hotseat.

One that would only by him a couple more of weeks in the job as he was sacked by the board during the November international break with David Moyes being quickly installed the new manager, a decision that you would have to say is one that looks pretty shrewd at present.

The former Everton and Manchester United boss currently finds his team lying 16th in the Premier League and tonight a win would take them up to the very heady heights of 11th in the table, such is the tightness of the bottom half right now.

They face a Tottenham side who are looking to close the gap on Liverpool in the race for the fourth and final Champions League place, while also looking to extend the gap on arch rivals Arsenal in sixth after they snatched a share of the points with Chelsea last night in what was a very pulsating encounter.

For both Tottenham and West Ham it is the second of two games in as many days, for Spurs they made the long journey to South Wales and came back with all three points thanks to goals from former Swansea forward Fernando Llorente and Dele Alli.

There was an element of fortune with Llorente’s goal as it should have been given as offside, but the flag stayed down and Tottenham solidified their early dominance by going in front. They did however ride their luck as the officials did not have a good game and the frame of the goal also came to their aid at one point.

Davinson Sanchez was very lucky not to have been shown a red card for two bookable offences while Mike van der Hoorn’s header hit Jan Vertonghen before hitting the post, for all Swansea’s attempts to get back into the game though they were killed off by a late Dele Alli goal to wrap up all three points.

On the same Tuesday evening, West Ham had to come from behind to earn three vital points against West Brom and they did so in dramatic fashion. James McClean had put the Baggies ahead on the half hour before Andy Carroll restored parity just before the hour.

With the game petering out and it looking like Alan Pardew would have to make do with just a point on his return to West Ham, he eventually ended up with none as Carroll scored his second goal of the game in injury time to give his side a huge win. Had they not won they would have gone into this game in the bottom three of the table.

The big question on Tuesday was whether or not Harry Kane would be fit enough to start and to the frustration of Fantasy Football managers around the world, his illness meant he was only good for the bench,. However he should be good to return this evening.

If that is the case then Tottenham will be almost at full strength with only Toby Alderweireld’s long term injury keeping him out of proceedings. Spurs have already beaten West Ham in the league this season with a 3-2 win in East London back in September.

I don’t think there will be that many goals tonight as this version of West Ham is a bit more solid than that of the Bilic vintage, however I do think Tottenham will gain revenge for their Carabao Cup defeat and I think this will be a home win.

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