Tottenham travel to Upton Park on Wednesday night to take on West Ham, a game that if they win will see them rise into first position in the Premier League ahead of Leicester City on goal difference.
Tottenham
Tottenham this season have mastered the art of coming from behind to grab vital wins and points and Sunday’s comeback against Swansea was the perfect example of that.
The fantastic comeback against Swansea moved Spurs within two points of Leicester and with the Foxes only able to draw against West Brom last night, the game against West Ham offers Mauricio Pochettino’s side the perfect chance to top the table.
However, if Spurs are going to leave East London with all three points, then they are likely going to have to do so without Dele Alli, who faces a late fitness test after twisting his ankle in the warm-up ahead of the Swansea game
However, there is some good news for Mauricio Pochettino, with Tom Carroll once again available after recovering from an achilles tendon injury.
West Ham United
West Ham have defied all expectations so far this season, in what will be their last campaign at Upton Park ahead of their move to the Olympic Stadium.
Slaven Bilic’s side currently sit in sixth place in the Premier League, having recorded a league double over Liverpool, as well as beating Manchester City at the Etihad and Arsenal at the Emirates.
West Ham’s fantastic campaign has been spearheaded by the talismanic Dimitri Payet, who has proved to be one of the buys of the season in the Premier League.
The team news for the home side is that Diafra Sakho could be involved for the first time since November, whilst January singing Sam Byram is suspended whilst Winston Reid and James Tomkins are suspended.
Manager’s thoughts
Slaven Bilic
“Our home form has been very good recently and we want to do everything we can to keep this run going.”
“We are playing pretty well, of course we can improve and that’s what we are trying to do.” (West Ham)
Mauricio Pochettino
“Our objective at the end of last season was clear, to reduce the gap with the teams at the top.”
“It is important to keep our level, our fitness, our mentality and we’ll see what happens. It’s too soon to speak about the end of the season.” (BBC)
