Paul Merson predicts West Ham United v Tottenham in Premier League
Paul Merson has backed Tottenham to beat West Ham United in their Premier League clash on Saturday 19 October.
Speaking to Sportskeeda (17 October), Merson insists the Hammers haven’t managed to live up to expectations this season and doubts whether Julen Lopetegui knows what his best starting XI is yet.
Merson has predicted that Spurs will win 2-1 despite their collapse at Brighton last time out.
“This is a massive football match due to the big rivalry between the two sides. Tottenham looked great for 45 minutes against Brighton before the international break, but they eventually ended up doing what they’re known for during that 3-2 loss. The ‘Spursy’ tag seems to never leave them,” he said.
“We saw the same thing happening during the game against Leicester, now it’s happened again. When they’re 2-0 up and cruising, everything seems great. But as soon as they concede, no one wants to stand up for each other. That’s a worrying trend and a huge problem for Ange Postecoglou.
“Spurs crumble too quickly under pressure. We’re only in October and we’ve seen it happen twice now. They were probably playing their best team against Brighton, I really don’t think there’s a lot wrong with that line up either.
“West Ham have not lived up to the expectations. When Julen Lopetegui finds his best XI, they will start firing. But I still doubt if he knows that. They got a big win over Ipswich last time out and the international break probably came at the wrong time for them.
“West Ham could be back to where they started now, and with the break giving time for things to settle down at Tottenham, I’m backing Spurs to win 2-1”.
West Ham United need to prove Paul Merson wrong v Tottenham
Before the international break, West Ham seemed to have a turnaround in form. The Hammers managed to get four points from six after drawing 1-1 against Brentford and beating Ipswich 4-1.
At the start of the season, Lopetegui’s men were touted for Europe thanks to big names such as Max Kilman, Niclas Fullkrug and Guido Rodriguez arriving to bolster their ranks.
Evidently, this wasn’t meant to be straight away as the Hammers currently find themselves twelfth in the Premier League table, just five points away from the drop zone.
If Lopetegui’s men want to prove they’ve turned a corner and have what it takes to meet their pre-season expectations, a win against Tottenham would go a long way towards proving that.
The Spaniard will no doubt be looking towards Jarrod Bowen to put in another inspiring performance and perhaps lead the team to victory over their London rivals, proving Merson wrong.
In other West Ham news, Mohammed Kudus has shared an apology after what happened while he was on international duty with Ghana.
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