It’s great to have the EPL back in full swing after the December World Cup action and this continues to be a fantastic season, with Arsenal holding steady and maintaining a healthy lead over Manchester City in second place.
But what about the other teams? We know that the battle for top spot is fierce but it’s not just about who takes the crown. The Hammers are currently battling for survival in the EPL and we need to drastically improve our form to stave off relegation. At the time of writing this, we stand 16th in the league.
This is not great news and doesn’t make for great sports betting, either. If you love placing football wagers as a West Ham fan, you might fight it difficult currently with our poor form! Don’t forget that there are other sports too that you might enjoy, such as NBA picks and parlays.
An important upcoming match that you may want to wager on is the game against our fellow London rivals, Spurs. The Hammers face off against Tottenham on the 19th of February at the Spur’s stadium and this could be a crucial match for both teams in the 2022-23 season. We take a look at this match below and what we can expect.
Tottenham Hotspur – pushing for Champions League positioning
Tottenham continue their good form and currently sit fifth in the table. Although they are a long way behind leaders Arsenal, they are certainly still in the running for a Champions League place and at the time of writing this, are a single point behind Newcastle.
Spurs will certainly be looking to beat us at home and we can expect great performances from Kane and Son Heung-min leading the attacks. The only thing that could benefit the Hammers is that Spurs have just lost 1-0 against AC Milan in the Champions League on the Tuesday.
This could leave them short-handed and their superstars may not be 100%. As a result, we could be in for a surprise win. In fact, our game against them slots in nicely between both AC Milan Champions League legs, so their efforts and concentration will undoubtedly be on those games.
West Ham – salvaging a sub-par season
We know it – the Hammers are not having a brilliant season. We stand 16th in the table and our recent form isn’t amazing either. At the time of writing this, our last five games were one win, two draws and two losses – something needs to change and we need a boost. A victory against London rivals Tottenham could provide just that.
There is no denying that after our match against Chelsea on the 11th, we have a pretty tough series of games, including Tottenham, Man United and Brighton. The only real respite we will get in this period is against Forest but they still sit above us so that will be a tough game too!
This really needs to be a win against the Spurs – even a draw would help push us away from the relegation zone.
The showdown – what to expect from this London derby?
Based on the past 20 matchups between these two long-time Premier League teams, Tottenham have the slight edge. In these 20 games, Spurs have won 10, the Hammers have won six and there have been four draws. One might say, therefore, that things are fairly even.
But things change and currently Spurs certainly have the better form, with Son and Kane forming a decent goalscoring partnership. The last time the two teams met was in August 2022 and this resulted in a 1-1 draw. On the two occasions before that, Spurs gave us a 3-1 and 2-1 beating, respectively.
Hopefully West Ham can even things out and pull off a win at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
but with both teams’ current form, the odds favour Tottenham. However if our injury list can miraculously lighten and we have a nearly full-strength squad, there is no reason that we can’t topple them.
Tottenham are expected to shine, but the Hammers can pull it off!
We all know that Spurs are expected to beat us, but upsets happen regularly in the Premier League and competition remains tough. Hopefully, the Irons will shine and we will pull off a draw at worst, but best-case scenario, we’ll take a win and put a dampener on Tottenham’s chance of Champions League placement.
Either way, it should be a great game at the Tottenham Stadium and we hope that all our fans travel the short distance to North London to cheer on the lads.
