Key Points
- Spurs to bounce back after Brighton debacle
- Always a game with plenty of spice
- Keep faith in AngeBall
A London Derby kicks the weekend’s football off as West Ham travel to north London to take on Spurs at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Ange Postecoglu’s side are currently 9th in the table, 3 places and 2 points better off than The Hammers and are the 4th highest scorers in the PL this campaign with 14 goals. Tottenham are searching for a 4th home win from the last 5 games and it promises to be an electric atmosphere on Saturday lunchtime.
Julen Lopetegui has endured a mixed start to life as West Ham manager, winning 2, drawing 2 and losing 3 of his 7 PL games in charge so far. Although his men are unbeaten away from home and have only lost once in their previous 4 PL matches.
Free-scoring Spurs but still wasteful
Postecoglu and all Spurs fans will be all too aware of their side's inability to finish games off so far this season, most notably away at Brighton last time out and away to Leicester in the opening game of the season.
The style of football is very entertaining and easy on the eye and I don’t see that changing. But for anyone connected with Spurs, it must be frustrating that they keep letting these leads slip and dropping so many points.
In front of their own fans, Spurs have been terrific ever since Postecoglu took the job last summer. During the 2023/2024 season, they won 13 of their 19 home matches and this season have won 3 of their 4 home games in all competitions, scoring 10 goals in these games.
Tough task for Hammers
Despite being unbeaten in the league away from the London Stadium, West Ham were very fortunate to leave Fulham with a point after a 95th minute equaliser and I see this being a difficult assignment for Lopetegui’s side to get anything from this one.
The Hammers have only kept 1 clean sheet from 7 PL fixtures, and 0 in the last 6 matches in all competitions. They have a vulnerability about them defensively and this is something Tottenham will look to exploit.
Spurs have firepower but have wasted crucial chances
Spurs are the joint 4th-highest scorers at home so far and with Brennan Johnson and Dominic Solanke both now finding their shooting boots, they have some real quality up front. I therefore expect them to breach West Ham’s backline and create plenty of chances during the 90 minutes.
They have Son likely returning for this encounter which can only heap more fear onto the West Ham defence.
Tottenham are the 2nd highest-ranked side for xG this term, with 1.90 and only Manchester City are ahead of them for this statistic with 2.13. So if they can start taking the countless chances they are creating, games will be put to bed much quicker.
With a more clinical edge, Tottenham would probably have another 5 or 6 points on the board. However, in saying that, with 10 goals in their 4 games in all competitions on home soil and 15 goals in their last 6 matches, I still fancy them to dispatch their London rivals on Saturday.
AngeBall still a winner for me
Postecoglu plays the game predominantly utilising a 4-3-3 formation, which lends itself to getting balls in behind the opposition defence. Moreover, it allows Johnson, Timo Werner, Dejan Kulusevski to roam free and lets full-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie push forward. Overall, I don’t see any letup in this against The Hammers.
What this style also brings is an ability to push opposition defences back towards their own goal. This has led to Spurs gaining the 2nd-highest number of corners in the PL this campaign with 63, an average of 9 per match, with only Manchester City earning more.
Further to this, Spurs have had more corners than their opponents in all but one game this season, which leads me to the betting markets for Saturday’s showdown.
Spurs to put the Hammer down!
Looking at the available betting options for this London derby, the over 2.5 total goals angle is an obvious place to start given 5 out of Tottenham’s 7 PL matches and 4 out of West Ham’s 7 games have produced this outcome. Coupled with the fact Spurs have only kept 2 clean sheets in 7 and Lopetegui’s men have had just the 1 in 7 it’s a natural point of interest.
However, since mid-way through last season, the bookie models have reacted to the much higher average goals-per-game ratio in the best league on the planet.
Spurs are best priced at 1/2 with bet365 to win the match. Given the above reasoning and how strong they have been at home for over a season now I fully expect them to get maximum points come full-time. I had them at 2/5, so 1/2 is a fair price.
My tip: Spurs win + most corners at 11/10 with the bet365 Bet Builder
Using the bet builder feature, I had Tottenham to win the match and explored various other markets to combine with it. Spurs having the most corners looks very appealing to me which bumps our bet to 11/10 with
bet365.
I feel with home advantage Spurs will dominate the majority of the game (at least 60% possession) and should be capable of creating countless chances against a creaky West Ham rearguard. If Postecoglu’s side can find their shooting boots, they should have too much quality not to claim the win in this one as well as the corner count for good measure.
bet365 sign up bonus:
Bet £10 & Get £30.
Tottenham vs West Ham Best Bet
- Market:
Bet Builder (To win match and to win most corners)
- Selection:
Tottenham & Tottenham
- Odds:
11/10
- Stake:
1.5pts
- Bookie:
bet365
🌎 Follow TheFund elsewhere!
Instagram:
thefund.bet
Telegram:
thefundbet
