Chris Sutton predicts winner of West Ham United clash v Tottenham in Premier League
Chris Sutton believes West Ham United won’t get away with a repeat performance of their draw against Chelsea and has predicted David Moyes’ side will fall to defeat against Spurs.
The Hammers will arrive at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday (19 February) full of confidence after a run of four games without defeat in all competitions and a valiant 1-1 draw against the Blues last time out.
However, when making his predictions for the BBC Sport website, Sutton admitted he thought Moyes’ team wouldn’t improve enough to match the level of Spurs – predicting a 3-1 loss for the Hammers.
He said: “Spurs won the last game Conte missed, against Manchester City earlier this month, and I am expecting a similar result here, helped by them having Cristian Romero back after suspension.
“But we don’t really know what we will get from Tottenham, as was shown by their heavy defeat at Leicester last time out. As for West Ham, they were very poor in the first 25 minutes against Chelsea and the game could have been out of sight for them by then.
“The Hammers hung on in there and got something out of the game but I don’t think they will get away with it if they put in a repeat performance against Tottenham.”
Tough ask
Moyes is up against it this weekend after a string of ill-timed injuries to his already depleted squad.
At the back, the Scot has dew options to choose from and may need to consider a formation change if Nayef Aguerd isn’t deemed fit enough to start.
With Kurt Zouma and Aaron Cresswell also sidelined, the likes of Thilo Kehrer and Angelo Ogbonna will have to step up and deal with Harry Kane – a prospect that won’t fill Hammers fans with too much optimism.
The burden of picking up a result may fall into the hands of Lukasz Fabianski, who has been one of the most consistent performers for West Ham this season. The Poland international is likely to face a barrage of shots on Sunday, and he will need to be at his very best to deny Spurs’ high-quality attack.
In attack, the returning Danny Ings will look to create some chemistry with Jarrod Bowen to cause Spurs’ vulnerable back-five some problems, and his finishing will need to be on point for West Ham United to nick a result.