Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
It’s the final ever encounter between these two sides at Upton Park and how West Ham would love to not only win this fixture but throw a spanner in Tottenham’s title works while also strengthening their outside chance of a Champions League place next season.
Last time out Slaven Bilic got the better of Sam Allardyce on his return to Upton Park as West Ham ran out 1-0 winners over Sunderland. It wasn’t the prettiest of games in all fairness and will be probably be remembered more for the celebration by Michail Antonio. His winning strike and Homer Simpson tribute was the talk of Social Media during Saturday Lunchtime.
That win saw them move to 5th for 24 hours thanks to Southampton’s defeat and Manchester United’s activity, United took the place back last night with an impressive win over Arsenal but the Hammers are very much in the hunt for a Europa League place which could go down as low as 7th thanks to Manchester City’s Captial One Cup victory last night
If West Ham are going for the Europa League then it’s fair to say that their opponents tonight Tottenham are gunning for not only a Champions League spot but the Premier League title too. But they know this always feisty London Derby is going to be one of their most sternest tests in this title race run in.
On Sunday it did look like one of those days at one point as they went 1-0 down to Swansea and Swans Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski did well to withstand an absolute barrage of Tottenham attacks. He withstood wave after wave of Tottenham pressure to keep the home side frustrated.
It wasn’t until the 70th Minute that Tottenham got their just rewards with Super Sub Nacer Chadli coming off the bench to level things up, even with the equaliser you felt that Tottenham were going to be the more likely side to go on and get a winner and it was Danny Rose that did exactly that just 7 Minutes later.
That goal could very well change the landscape of the title race, what with Arsenal losing at Old Trafford it’s fair to say that it could be a massive goal come the end of the season. With the North London Derby on Saturday Mauricio Pochettino has to make sure his squad doesn’t look focus on what is in front of them tonight and again he will have to manage his personnel to make sure they are as fresh as possible.
Mousa Dembele looks set to miss out again and Dele Alli could be a doubt after stubbing his toe in the warm up against Swansea on Sunday. Both them being out would be massive blow so Pochettino who had already resigned himself to Dembele missing out will be sweating on the fitness of Alli and whether he will be fit enough to start.
Spurs have won 6 games in a row, the only team to do that this season but getting a 7th isn’t going to be an easy prospect. I have a feeling this could be a draw but in the context of the week, if they could get 7 points from a possible 9 then it wouldn’t be the worst result for Spurs. A share of the points for me.
