The big five pundits have had their say on West Ham’s trip to face Spurs in the Premier League as predictions are made.
West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur is always a hotly contested affair.
As the Premier League resumes with a clash between the London rivals, there’s plenty at stake.
West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui has just got his head above water with that 4-1 win over Ipswich before the international break.
The spotlight has shifted over to Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou since.
Spurs’ collapse from a 2-0 half-time lead at Brighton to lose 3-2 has piled pressure on the Australian.
If the Hammers can repeat last season’s result in this fixture, they will go above Tottenham.
And that really would turn up the heat on the Spurs boss.
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Plenty at stake as West Ham head to Tottenham
Tottenham have a host of key players back for the game including the brilliant Son Heung-min.
Their in-form goalscorer Brennan Johnson is also available after suffering an injury on international duty.
West Ham have a near fully fit squad bar striker Niclas Fullkrug.
The German has missed the last five games and has no return date with new rumours suggesting his injury issue is worse than West Ham are letting on.
Bragging rights are on the line in north London and near fully fit squads means there are no excuses.
Postecoglou said he had been waiting 10 days to explode at his players for the Brighton collapse.
So West Ham will be facing a fired up Tottenham side.
Who will come out on top, though?
The big five pundits all agree when it comes to West Ham at Spurs as predictions are made.
From Alan Shearer to Mark Lawrenson, here’s what each has had to say.
Shearer on Spurs vs West Ham: ‘Huge game for Spurs’
Record Premier League goalscorer Shearer doesn’t call a score in his predictions.
Shearer says West Ham will rightly believe they can get something out of the game.
But he is backing Spurs to edge a very tight contest to ease the pressure on Postecoglou.
“This is a big game for Ange Postecoglou,” Shearer said in The Metro.
“It’s a huge game for Spurs after what happened to them last time at Brighton.
“He has said himself that the biggest disappointment of his Spurs reign so far was the way they crumbled when winning 2-0 last time out.
“West Ham will take some encouragement from that performance; they can be brave, and they might believe they can get something out of the game.
“Ange will be looking and demanding a real performance after what happened in the last game, and because of that, I’ll go for Tottenham to edge it, just.”
Sutton on Spurs vs West Ham: ‘Son the difference’
Chris Sutton believes Tottenham will ‘give someone a hiding soon’. He doesn’t think that will be the Hammers.
But he does believe Spurs will emerge victorious 3-1 – with Son the difference maker between the two sides.
“West Ham got the win they needed against Ipswich before the international break, but it was a very different story for Tottenham against Brighton,” Sutton told BBC Sport.
“It is typical, really, because everyone had been singing Ange Postecoglou’s praises following Spurs’ win at Manchester United the previous week, talking about how he had built a team with an identity… but then they fell apart in the second half against the Seagulls.
“I don’t think Spurs’ defeat was down to his style of football, though. It was because of shocking defending, and the way they lost duels all over the pitch.
“I am expecting them to bounce back here, helped by the fact that Son Heung-min is in contention after a few weeks out.
“I’ve been saying it for a while now, but Tottenham are going to give someone an absolute hiding sooner or later. I don’t think it will happen against the Hammers, but I do think they will win this one easily enough.”
Paul Merson labelled Tottenham more ‘Spursy’ than ever after the Brighton collapse.
He believes West Ham will start firing once Lopetegui settles on his best side.
But Merson doesn’t believe the Spaniard knows what that looks like yet.
And so he is backing Tottenham to edge this one 2-1.
“This is a massive football match due to the intense rivalry between the two sides,” Merson told Sportskeeda.
“Tottenham looked great for 45 minutes against Brighton & Hove Albion before the international break, but they eventually ended up doing what they’re know for during that 3-2 loss. The ‘Spursy tag seems to never leave them!
“We saw the same thing happening during the game against Leicester City, now it’s happened again. When they’re 2-0 up and cruising, everything seems great. But as soon as they concede, no one wants to stand up for each other. That’s a worrying trend and a huge problem for Ange Postecoglou.
“Spurs crumble too quickly under pressure. We’re only in October and we’ve seen it happen twice now. They were probably playing their best team against Brighton, I really don’t think there’s a lot wrong with that line up either. When things are going well, all their players want to get on the ball and do things. But when it’s not, no one seems to want the ball! This is the problem.”
Lawrenson on Spurs vs West Ham: ‘Might just get it done’
Lawrenson agrees with Merson, backing Tottenham to edge the derby 2-1.
“It’s yet another London fixture for West Ham and they had a good, much-needed win against Ipswich last time out while Tottenham absolutely threw it away against Brighton,” Lawrenson said.
“Spurs might just get it done here though.”
Jones Knows on Spurs vs West Ham: ‘Tottenham revved up’
Lewis Jones – better known as Jones Knows on Sky Sports – is one of their leading analysts and experts.
There’s more bad news for West Ham as he has called the game the same as Merson and Lawrenson, 2-1 to Tottenham.
“You can just picture Ange Postecoglou rocking in his chair over the international period, plotting how to get a reaction out of his Tottenham players following their embarrassing collapse at Brighton,” Jones told Sky Sports.
“He branded it the “worst defeat” of his reign at Spurs, labelling the second-half performance “unacceptable”.
“A reaction is expected in what is one of their biggest games of the season for the fanbase – there is little love lost between Spurs and West Ham.”