On Sky
After the loss up at the KC Stadium last weekend, to Hull City, Sam Allardyce takes his squad the short distance to N17 to take on a Tottenham side that under Andre Villas-Boas, are flying high. If West Ham are to get a result it`ll need a touch of resilience and also for West Ham to score their first away goal, in the Premier League, this season. All in all it`s a tall order but not an impossible one.
Vital Quotes:
On Sunday fit again Joe Cole is hoping to make the starting eleven, however Jose is hoping that a former Hammer, Jermain Defoe doesn`t make the Spurs starting eleven with Joe quipping ahead of the vital clash,
‘Tottenham have brought in some good players but personally, I’ll be glad if my old West Ham and England team-mate Jermain Defoe’s name is not on their team sheet on Sunday.’
‘He seems to have scored every time he has played this season and we all know what he can do.”
‘If you give him a chance he can hurt you, so I think he’s probably impressed me the most of Tottenham’s players.”
‘We’ve got to stop him from scoring this weekend, but Jermain will be eager to impress.”
‘He wants to get back into the England squad and he’ll be right up for it against his old club.”
‘We’ll need to be right on it, so I’ll be happy if he is not playing against us.’
Spurs Team News:
Andre Villas-Boas has several of his first team squad not available for this fixture with Danny Rose, Aaron Lennon and Etiene Capoue all expected to be out until after the international break. These three are joined on the injury list by Younes Kaboul who picked up an injury in the Europa League on Thursday.
Player to watch: Jermain Defoe
Possibly not a starter on Sunday but a striker we know all about and a striker who is on a good run when it comes to scoring goals.
West Ham Team News:
Sam Allardyce takes his Hammers squad to White Hart Lane minus his two long term absentees – Andy Carroll and Alou Diarra. However, Sam will be boosted by the fact that Joe Cole is available again after being side-lined with a hamstring injury for the last month.
Player to watch: Kevin Nolan
The captains` leadership skills and his ability to lead by example will be needed at White Hart Lane if West Ham are to get anything from this fixture,
Match Facts & Stats
Our record against Spurs is abysmal. In the last 12 league games we`ve won just once that being some three years ago when a goal from Frederic Piquionne gave us all three points. Our last league win at White Hart Lane though dates back to 1999, a time when Ian Wright and Marc Keller scored the decisive goals.
Last season we got zilch from the two games against Spurs, conceding six goals in the two fixtures.
Ref Watch:
Those entrusted with keeping law and order are:-
Referee – L. Probert
Assistants – G. Beswick and P. Bankes
Fourth Official – C. Pawson
Match Prediction:
Our away record is hardly good enough to give anyone any confidence that we can get a result at White Hart Lane, even more so when you consider that we`ve yet to score a goal, away from home, in the Premier League. But a London derby can be a great leveller and just perhaps we can pull something out of the bag up in N17. I`m going for West Ham to score that first Premier League goal, this season, on the road and come back with a 1-1 draw
Next Fixtures:
Our next fixture, on Saturday 19th October, sees us entertain big-spending Manchester City.
