Premier League: Hammers and Spurs in a Battle for 16th!

West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur

Does it really matter?

I suspect the fans of these two proud London clubs won’t like to be reminded of their lowly league positions, but I also bet neither of them wants to be below the other!

Premier League: West Ham United vs Tottenham is a curious affair to say the least. While the likes of Nottingham Forest are in the hunt for a Champions League place these two are thanking their lucky stars the bottom three in the table were so far behind they have already been relegated.

Tottenham manager Ange Postecoglou has been under mounting pressure this season, while Graham Potter, since he took over from the sacked Julen Lopetegui in January has found his own problems. At that point the Hammers had won just six Premier League games from 20 and were down in 14^th position in the table. Since then West Ham have won three from 14 and have dropped to 17^th, one place and one point below Tottenham.       

West Ham come into the game on the back of a 3-2 loss away to Brighton and Hove Albion, while Spurs were whacked 5-1 by champions Liverpool. Postecoglou’s men are in Europa League action on Thursday night and that is a priority, so the West Ham United vs Tottenham betting odds will lean further towards the Hammers.     

 

Talking Points

Hammers can’t buy a win as pressure mounts

Rumours swirling around the East End suggest the West Ham owners are beginning to lose patience with Potter and the former Brighton manager will have a quarter of the 2025/26 season to convince his bosses that he is the man to take the club forward. The pressure would not be so intense had the Hammers managed to hold on a lead, moving into injury time, in both their last two games. They led Brighton 2-1 on 83 minutes thanks to a Tomas Soucek goal and, with just a minute on the clock the Hammers still had their noses in front, but they were hit by a double whammy as Kaoru Mitoma levelled and then Carlos Baleba curled in a stunner to give the Seagulls a much needed win.    

The week before, the Hammers led already relegated Southampton for the entire second half after captain Jarrod Bowen scored straight after half time; but again they were undone on 93 minutes by a Lesley Ugochukwu volley, another superb strike but another dagger in the Hammers’ hearts.

Bowen, with nine goals and eight assists, has carried his team but the return of midfield ace James Ward-Prowse and striker Niclas Fullkrug will help him lift the load…but can West Ham hold on to a lead? 

 

Spurs sweating on Son

It’s been a difficult campaign for Postecoglou, in terms of results and injuries and captain Heung-Min Son, having missed much of the first half of the campaign is on the sidelines again, after he picked up a foot injury during Spurs’ Europa clash with Eintracht Frankfurt on April 10^th. The South Korean star is getting closer but the manager confirmed he would be missing for the Thursday night clash with Bodo Glimt, and will be re-assessed before Sunday.

Spurs have missed Son’s leadership, pace and creative spark, but two other players have stepped up. Brennan Johnson is having his best season in North London with 11 goals while James Maddison, with nine goals and seven assists, has returned to form in recent weeks and the England man has backed his manager, saying: “He’s the first person to tell you we’ve had a poor season, especially in the league. We’ve been very good in Europe, but the league season’s probably been unacceptable, and we can all take a collective responsibility for that. But he’s my manager, he’s my gaffer, I respect him an awful amount.”  

In all honesty, Thursday night’s match with Glimt is the higher priority, but salvation in Europe is in no way guaranteed. Fellow Premier League royalty Manchester United have endured a poor domestic season and the Red Devils are in the Europa semi-final too.  

 

History

With 31 wins to 21 the Whites have had the better of the head-to-head West Ham United vs Tottenham results in the Premier League era, and Spurs won 4-1 when the two teams met at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium back in October.

Last season this fixture ended in a 1-1 draw and West Ham are unbeaten in four meetings at home against the Whites. 

In terms of recent form neither are pulling up any trees. The Hammers have drawn three and lost three of the last six, in fact Potters team are without a victory in seven; meanwhile Spurs have won two, drawn one and lost three of their last six.   

 

Betting Tip

The Hammers are favourites to win this London derby at SBOTOP odds of 2.20 with the Whites at 2.67 and the hosts do have the advantage of a week to prepare while Spurs have a huge Europa meeting on Thursday. But with 19 league losses already banked I suspect the visitors will fight hard and frustrate the Hammers…maybe with a late leveller!

   

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