Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
This weekend’s Premier League action starts under the Friday Night Lights at West Ham play host to Tottenham at The London Stadium and Slaven Bilic’s men will look to derail Tottenham’s tilt at the title.
With The Hammers safe from the immediate dangers of relegation there is very little for them to play for between now and the end of the season but they would undoubtedly love nothing more than to throw a spanner in the works of their cross town rivals.
They are not mathematically safe from the drop just yet but it would take an almighty combination of results to go against them to see them fall into the relegation zone between now and the end of the season.
They come into this game in without a win in their last three matches but all three have resulted in draws. Showing that they can be a tough nut to crack but also perhaps are lacking the extra quality to edge out their opposition.
The East London outfit currently lie 15th in the table but a win Tonight would see them move up to 11th for at least a day. That just shows how congested this area of the table is as they could realistically finish anywhere between 9th and 17th
The pressure is on Slaven Bilic to finish the season strongly and try and get as high as up the table as possible. In doing so it will alleviate any pressure in regards to his employment status but the same can be said for a number clubs in the same positional bracket.
There are no such concerns for their opponents Tottenham as they know that not only would a win this evening secure 2nd in the table but it would mean that they would close the gap to Chelsea to just a solitary point.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men have the perfect opportunity in which to really turn the screw on the league leaders as Chelsea do not play until Monday, so they may well have to fret over all the weekend should Tottenham do their part of the bargin.
It’s back to back London derbies for Spurs and last week they came through the North London test with flying colours. Second half goals from Dele Alli and Harry Kane were the difference but the 2-0 scoreline flattered Arsenal.
Had it not been for a mixture of wayward first half finishing and Petr Cech then it could and should have been at least 4-0 to Tottenham such was the dominance at White Hart Lane last Sunday afternoon.
That win meant it was nine wins in a row for Tottenham in league action and they will look to make it a perfect 10 with a sterling performance in a few hours time. Not since February 11th when they lost away to Liverpool have they dropped points.
West Ham will no doubt be looking for some revenge after Tottenham preserved their unbeaten home record back in November in dramatic style. With just a minute remaining West Ham were on course for an upset win with a score at 1-2 but they would go onto ship two late goals to give Tottenham a dramatic victory in front of their own fans.
There’s no secret that Tottenham have been dominant at White Hart Lane this season with no defeats in 18 matches but it’s on the road that has created the gap between themselves and Chelsea.
They are going to have to once again find their best if they are to really push Chelsea all the way, Tottenham have been winning to stand still but could this be the weekend in which we finally see a glacial shift in the race of the title.
Tottenham can only keep asking the questions, ones that Chelsea seem to have all the answers for right now. But a 10th successive win will certainly make for an interesting weekend in the race for the title.
