Paul Merson predicts result of West Ham United ‘biggest game of the season’ v Tottenham
Paul Merson has predicted the result of West Ham United’s clash with Tottenham on Tuesday night, and called it the “biggest game” of their season.
The Hammers suffered a dramatic 4-3 defeat to Newcastle after throwing away a 3-1 lead, while Spurs came from behind against Luton with a late winner from Heung-Min Son.
And while speaking to Sportskeeda (1 April), Merson revealed that he is picking a home win because the visitors are like “a bag of revels” and feels their inconsistency could hurt them against a wounded Irons side.
“West Ham were 3-1 up against Newcastle, and they took off Michail Antonio. He was their focal point, and they asked Newcastle to have a go,” he said.
“The substitution gave Newcastle the license to bomb forward because they weren’t going to get hurt on the counter. Tottenham are becoming a bag of revels. They were excellent against Villa before they got slaughtered by Fulham, and they stumbled over the line against Luton. They could win or lose this game by a 3-0 margin, and you wouldn’t flinch either way.
“They’re getting back to the Tottenham of old – their inconsistency could hurt them.
“This is one of the biggest games of West Ham’s season, and the fans will back them this week. West Ham are playing at home and could pull off a victory this week. West Ham 2-1 Tottenham.”
West Ham United must be at their best defensively
The way Tottenham play football this season under Ange Postecoglou means their opposition will always get chances, and that suits West Ham greatly.
The Hammers are at their best with space to run into with the pace of Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Michail Antonio supplemented by the quality of Lucas Paqueta.
But Spurs are also relentless when going forward and that means that the team simply have to be at their best defensively if they want any chance of winning this game.
Kurt Zouma, Dinos Mavropanos, Nayef Aguerd and Angelo Ogbonna have all had inconsistent seasons while Vladimir Coufal made an awful mistake against Newcastle too, but it’s a new game and the players must refocus.
It’s a huge game in the landscape of the season with a busy run to come, and a win against their rivals would get the fans back on side too.
In other West Ham news, a former Premier League referee was stunned after a controversial moment against Newcastle.
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