Paul Higham is backing Tottenham to cement their place in the top four with a routine London derby win over West Ham on Saturday.
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1pt Tottenham win to nil at 7/4
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Tottenham v West Ham (1230 BST Sky Sports PL)
It’s a Saturday lunchtime London derby for Tottenham as they continue their push for the top four, and they can put one foot in next season’s Champions League given recent results from their rivals.
Arsenal and Manchester United both lost and Chelsea drew during the week as Spurs narrowly beat Brighton to open up a three-point gap between themselves in third and Chelsea in fourth, with Arsenal a further point behind.
Given the Gunners are useless away from home and Chelsea face Man United at the weekend, a victory here would all-but see Spurs safely into the top four, but they will take nothing for granted.
If you could ask for a fixture at this stage of the season it would be West Ham at home – with Manuel Pellegrini’s side in awful form.
They have not won in four, have just one draw in their last nine away games and have not kept a clean sheet in six league games - allowing at least two in all of those.
Betting guide
Prediction: Tottenham 2-0 West Ham (Sky Bet odds: 7/1)
Spurs have not conceded at their new stadium yet and West Ham have been conceding goals in bunches, that's not a good combination for the Hammers here. Spurs haven't been taking teams apart of late with narrow wins being their main source of success, but West Ham make enough mistakes and give teams enough chances to make this one relatively comfortable.
Best bet: Tottenham win to nil at 7/4
West Ham scored at Old Trafford, but that's not saying much these days and Spurs are quickly turning their new home into a fortress - although there's no love lost between these two it should be a handy win for the hosts.
Goals: Lucas Moura anytime scorer at 7/4
I have got a lot of time for the Brazil forward and he grabbed a hat-trick at home against Huddersfield two games ago - West Ham will struggle to contain him.
RequestABet: Tottenham to win, under 2.5 goals, Moura to score at 10/1
Opta stats
- Tottenham are looking to complete their first league double over West Ham since the 2012-13 campaign, having won 1-0 at the London Stadium back in October.
- West Ham have only won one of their last 16 away league games against Spurs (D6 L9), picking up a 3-0 victory in October 2013 at White Hart Lane.
- Following a run of five consecutive home league clean sheets against West Ham, Spurs have conceded in each of their last six at home against the Hammers in the Premier League.
- This will be the 12th different campaign in which Tottenham and West Ham have met at least three times in all competitions – Spurs have won both games so far, but have never beaten the Hammers three times in the same season before.
- Only Chelsea (22) have earned more points in Premier League London derbies than Spurs this season (19), with Mauricio Pochettino’s side winning three of their four at home (D1).
- Following an unbeaten run of five games away from home (W3 D2), West Ham have lost seven of their last eight on the road in the Premier League (D1), including each of the last four. They last lost five away league games in a row in January 2014.
- West Ham have lost their last six away league games against ‘big six’ opposition by an aggregate score of 3-16. Indeed, they’re winless in 20 such matches (D6 L14) since a 2-1 win at Man City in September 2015.
- West Ham have conceded at least twice in their last six Premier League games – they’ve never shipped 2+ goals in seven consecutive games in the competition, last doing so in the top-flight between November 1970-February 1971 (10 games).
- Only Arsenal (11) have had more different goalscorers in Premier League London derbies this season than Tottenham (10), with Harry Kane (4), Dele Alli (2) and Son Heung-min (2) the only players to score more than once for the club in such fixtures.
- Mark Noble and Felipe Anderson are the only West Ham players to have scored away from home in the Premier League in 2019. The Hammers have scored fewer goals on the road than any other side in the competition since the turn of the year (2).
Odds correct as of 1840 BST on 25/04/19