Tottenham vs. West Ham: Hammers’ flimsy home impact
By Gary Pearson
Spurs, who haven’t conceded a Premier League goal in 439 minutes, make the short hop to east London in yet another must-win derby.
It’s the first time Tottenham will play at London Stadium, a venue devoid of any discernible atmosphere and one West Ham haven’t adapted to well. Home sweet home it’s definitely not.
Home sour home
Travelling to Upton Park used to cause anxiety and distress for visiting teams. It was similar, to a lesser extent, to White Hart Lane, mostly due to its boisterous, fortress-like atmosphere. The “world-class” facility the Hammers now call home doesn’t hold a candle to the now-deceased Uptown Park.
Far from it.
"Supporters are as far away from the pitch as Arsenal are from Spurs in the standings. Get your binoculars out if you’re attending. Ok it’s not that bad, but you get the idea."
Unfortunately for West Ham, their dismal home record reflects the library-like ambience. Making no noise in the standings, West Ham have the fifth worst home record, gaining 22 from a possible 51 points.
They have six wins, four draws and seven losses in their unkind confines. It looked like things were starting to improve midseason, but a solitary win from their last six has completely dispelled that notion.
West Ham’s recent home performances haven’t been as woeful as their record indicates. Unbeaten in two, the Hammers have kept two consecutive clean sheets. A 1-0 win against Swansea was followed up by a 0-0 stalemate with Everton. One goal losses to Leicester and Chelsea before that reflect a more dogged, determined Hammers unit of late.
The situation, however, doesn’t look nearly as good when you take a wide-angle lens look at things.
Six of West Ham’s 10 league wins have come at home, only one of which against a top-10 team. You’d have to go all the way back to their opening home game of the season, a 1-0 win against Bournemouth, to source that lonely result.
And beating Bournemouth isn’t all that impressive a result, even if they are, albeit barely, in 10th place.
Does West Ham pose a threat going forward?
That’s currently a loaded question.
Usually I would say yes, but it depends entirely on the status of Michail Antonio and Andy Carroll, the club’s leading goal scorers. Antonio, who has nine league goals, poses a massive threat in the air. He has nine goals with his noggin, the most in the top flight this season.
He is, however, reeling with a hamstring injury and, according to Physio Room, is a major doubt to feature on Friday.
Carroll, who was recently ranked as the 23rd best Premier League player plying his trade outside of the top six teams, is also a doubt. Carroll’s status is more murky as he’s in with a chance to feature on Friday.
The injury prone forward is nursing a slight groin strain.
Everyone knows about his aerial prowess. But, if healthy, this man is also gifted with some silky smooth skills for such a giant. His acrobatic scissors kick goal-of-the-year candidate is but one example of his puritan footballing acumen.
Carroll has seven goals in only 17 appearances in another year mired by injury. Beyond those two, Manuel Lanzini, their creative Argentinian, is the only other player who poses a moderate threat. He has seven goals in 32 appearances.
West Ham have scored only 18 goals in 17 home matches, a pretty feeble haul. Only Southampton (17), relegated Sunderland (16) and about-to-be-relegated Middlesbrough (16) have scored fewer.
The tale of the tape gets worse for West Ham when you consider they’re playing the league’s best defence. Spurs have four clean sheets on the trot and 17 overall. Tottenham have won nine in a row, three of which coming in enemy territory.
To compound the mismatch on paper, West Ham, who are seven points clear of Swansea with three games to play, are all but safe from being dragged into a relegation dogfight. So, other than pride, the east Londoners have little to play for.
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They will, however, do everything in their power to derail Spurs’ slim title hopes. There is no love lost between the two sides and stats often don’t bear the same weight in London derbies as they do in other games. There are often twists in the tale when Spurs battle cross-city rivals.
Tightly contested and deeply impassioned, London derbies are usually chockfull of unforeseen subplots and storylines.
If only the action on the field always transpired like the lopsided pre-match comparison indicates.
Regardless, Spurs are just too good for Slaven Bilic’s inconsistent side and should show their decided superiority by winning their 10th straight Premier League encounter.