The Premier League is about to kick into another fast gear this week, and Westham v Tottenham in a London clash that I think will be quite an interesting match.
Fans of both teams get on well off the pitch, but it will be a big game on the pitch as both sides vie for a European ticket for the coming season.
Westham suffered a huge blow this past weekend when they went down to Newcastle. While losing at St. James' Park is not uncommon, the manner in which they went 3-1 up will surely have angered Moyes' leaders. However, the fact that this next game came so quickly is also the best thing for them as there is no time for them to take their time and reflect, but rather need to bounce back immediately on the pitch.
Despite the loss, Westham are still an extremely dangerous team. Chaloboyun was excellent; Gudas has been one of the great discoveries of the season, and every time we see Lucas Berqueda in action, it seems to be a flight of stairs. With the return of Michali Antonio, they'll be looking for a typically consistent blitz and to keep the formation tight, which is the style Moyes has always favored. I predict they will be happy to let Spurs control the ball and bait them into trying to break down their low defense.
I was there for last Saturday's game and I think Westham's biggest problem came from their gate players. I think they weren't proactive enough against Harvey Bennis or Anthony Gorton and gave them too much space to push forward. Because we know that Tottenham have good front players like Son Heung-min, James Maddison and Biran Johnson, they need to deal with this problem better, they were great against Luton and like to receive the ball on the wing and hurt the opponent from those positions.
Tottenham Hotspur haven't continued their good form from the beginning of the season, and considering how tough they always look in matches, I still like to watch them play. Tottenham have been a bit flaky lately, but a win could put them in the top 4 ahead of Aston Villa.
Son Heung-Min was once again the hero for Tottenham last time out, scoring a late winner to move into 5th place on the club's all-time top scorer list, however, for me it was reserve substitute Johnson who changed the score. As soon as he switched in, he allowed the opposition to chase down an own goal. Later, he helped Son Heung-min score, but he almost scored himself. Unfortunately, I think it was the closest goal I've ever seen to the white line but was overturned by Eye in the Sky goal line technology. In the 45 in minutes he was on the field, he was playing very direct and active, which is a huge threat. I'd like to see him get a chance to play in this game because of his great play in the last game.
Saturday's game against Luton was a perfect demonstration of how Tottenham have plenty of possession, plenty of attacking players going forward, and chances to bury the ball in the goal. Westham will be ready to do what they did in the first leg at Tottenham, they will go all out to keep their formation and hopefully capitalize on their opponents' mistakes and sneak up on them. Tottenham had 75% of the possession and 23 shots on goal in that match, but ended up losing.
In my opinion, the course of this match will be very similar to the first cycle and the result will be almost the same, with Westham expected to win narrowly.
