WHZ View: Three things to look out for in West Ham derby v Tottenham
West Ham will be looking to move onto 45 points for the season when they host Tottenham at the London Stadium this weekend.
The two sides meet on Sunday in a high stakes London derby. Victory for the Hammers will open up a nine-point lead over Jose Mourinho’s men. Spurs will be desperate for three points to keep in the hunt for the European spots.
David Moyes’ side will be full of confidence coming off of a 3-0 win on Monday to Sheffield United. Tottenham have lost four of their last five league games, but did pick up a win yesterday in the Europa League over Wolfsberger.
It’s a huge game for the London clubs, both with similar aspirations. West Ham Zone have highlighted three things to look out for in the clash on Sunday.
Bounce-back ability
When we faced off with Spurs in October we were three goals down in the opening 16 minutes. It’s by far the worst we’ve played at any point this season, as Kane and Son tore us apart at the back.
According to Amazon Prime Video Sport, the Hammers have trailed for just 209 top-flight minutes since game week 10. This record is the fourth-best in the division, if we fall behind we tend to respond very well.
We look a lot better at the back now than we did at the start of the season, so we’re hopeful that history won’t repeat itself.
Kane to be keen
Most clubs in the top-flight could probably make the same point – Harry Kane loves playing against us.
The England captain has scored eight goals in the last nine league meetings between the sides, including a double earlier this season.
He asked to sit out of the Europa League clash last night to be ready for this one. No doubt he’ll be testing the inform Lukasz Fabianski on Sunday.
Creativity from Cresswell
Aaron Cresswell is arguably having his best season for West Ham. He joined from Ipswich Town in 2014 and has been a fantastic servant.
The left-back had begun to go off the boil under Pellegrini with a string of bad performances and mistakes. But he looks a new man under Moyes, given greater responsibility at the back and in our attacking set plays.
Cresswell has registered eight assists this season, the most in the top-flight for a defender. We’ve scored 12 times from set plays in 2020/21. His delivery will be crucial again for us as we look to open up a big gap between us and Spurs.
In other West Ham news, this Sky Sports data analyst has predicted us to finish in the top five.