WEST HAM VS TOTTENHAM: PREVIEW

West Ham United host fifth placed Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium on Saturday with the Hammers looking get back to winning ways.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side faced a 1-0 defeat at the Amex against Brighton, a fortnight ago. West Ham will certainly want to change the scenery by seeking the three points at home.

Tottenham beat Cardiff City 1-0 at Wembley before the international break and they'll be aiming to get themselves back in the Champions League places.

Source: Evening Standard

MANAGERS COMMENTS:

Pellegrini started off by commenting about this weekend’s opponent while praising Mauricio Pochettino on doing “a very good job” at Tottenham.

“Every year he has improved Tottenham a little bit more. I think they are a good team with a very good manager," Pellegrini explained.

"Tottenham are a good team with a lot of young players. Pochettino has done a very good job and they are one of the division's top teams."

The Chilean manager also did not hesitate to give out compliments on the Spurs star, Harry Kane.

"Harry Kane is one of the best players in this league," Pellegrini claimed.

Pochettino acknowledged that if the team wants to win titles, “we need to break records every season.”

When asked about whether his squad had a tough mentality, Pochettino replied:

“To create a winning mentality and to have the capacity every season to be in the top four is a record that we need to break. After when you’ve broken all the records you will be close to winning the league or win a trophy.

“We have no regrets, we are happy," were the words from the 46-year-old.

“When we started the season with three games that we won and we were up at the top of the table people were talking in a different way, 'Oh how clever are Tottenham because they keep all the squad from last season."

Source: Tottenham Hotspur FC

TEAM NEWS:

West Ham’s boss gave the press an update on forward Marko Arnautovic:

"Marko is okay. When he returned from internationals he worked with the squad without any problems. We must be careful about his knee."

Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli is still suffering from a hamstring and is therefore expected to return to training next week.

Danny Rose had to withdraw from England duty due to picking up a groin injury and is currently progressing with rehabilitation.

Defender Jan Vertonghen is also undertaking a hamstring injury and is continuing his recovery, remaining unavailable until December.

Christian Eriksen, who suffered from an abdomen injury, and Mousa Dembele who had a problem in his thigh, have both returned to training with the squad – becoming available for selection.

STATS:

In the teams’ head-to-head, West Ham have won 63 games, drawing 52 times while losing 94 times.

Their last encounter ended up with a 1-1 draw.

West Ham’s last five games include a W D W W L.

On the other hand, Spurs’ previous five games consist of a W W W L W.

Betting odds:

A West Ham win at home is 10/3, a draw at 13/5, with an away win for Spurs at 4/5.