West Ham welcome bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur to the London Stadium this weekend with Graham Potter and Ange Postecoglou under serious pressure.
It is the lowest West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur have been at the same time when meeting in the Premier League.
So the stakes have rarely been higher.
Especially with Ange Postecoglou’s job very much on the line at Tottenham and Graham Potter already feeling the heat after a disastrous first 15 games at the Hammers helm.
West Ham are officially the worst team outside the bottom three right now, sitting 17th in the table.
But no side outside the relegated clubs have lost more games than the 19 16th-placed Tottenham have given up.
One point separates two of the biggest underachievers in Europe’s top five leagues.
Speculation is rife Postecoglou will be sacked this summer – even if Tottenham add to West Ham’s misery by winning the Europa League to rescue their season.
Not only would that end Tottenham’s long trophy drought but it would also see them qualify for the Champions League too.
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Spurs can save season but West Ham have no such luxury
West Ham have no such jeopardy left in their season with Potter’s job coming into question after less than four months.
The Hammers have won just three of the Englishman’s 15 games so far and hit a new low in the 3-2 collapse against Brighton which will be familiar to Spurs fans.
Tottenham threw away a 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Brighton earlier this season.
West Ham did things a different way at the weekend, coming from 1-0 down to lead 2-1 with six minutes of normal time remaining – only to somehow conspire to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
There is absolutely no love lost between the Hammers and Tottenham – on or off the pitch.
Both clubs have bigger rivals in the shape of Millwall and Arsenal.
There is no denying this particular rivalry seems to grow in its intensity with every passing season.
It sounds like it may be too late for Postecoglou with Daniel Levy’s axe already sharpened.
But Potter must listen to England star Kyle Walker about Spurs if he wants a future at West Ham.
When West Ham brought Potter in to replace the hapless Julen Lopetegui, they were expecting at least a top 10 finish.
Lopetegui had left the side in 13th place.
Yet Potter has somehow managed to take West Ham backwards. The Hammers are on course to suffer the indignation of finishing below Spurs during one of their worst ever top flight seasons.
Postecoglou will pay the price by being replaced at Tottenham this summer by all accounts.
But it also stands to reason that Potter would not be retained this summer had Hammers chief David Sullivan got his way and handed him the initial six-month deal he had planned until interest from Everton forced his hand on a two-and-a-half year contract.
Postecoglou going but Potter also feeling Hammers heat
On the flip side, a win against Spurs can be the catalyst for Potter to turn things around in east London.
Until Potter snapped after West Ham’s pathetic collapse at his old club Brighton, many felt the 49-year-old has been too accepting of low standards and mediocrity from his players.
That’s why West Ham fans celebrated striker Niclas Fullkrug speaking out and calling the team “s—” following a dismal draw against Southampton.
Fullkrug has spoken out again with a warning to Potter following West Ham’s defeat to Brighton.
It was his latest attempt to rally his teammates with Spurs up next.
And this is a game Potter can’t afford a meek surrender from his team.
Just ask former Tottenham defender Walker.
Potter must listen to Walker about Spurs if he wants West Ham future
The England star, on loan at AC Milan from Man City, has been discussing the biggest rivalries he has played in on BBC 5 Live – which you can see below.
And former Tottenham star Walker said facing West Ham always felt a much fiercer and more real rivalry than when Spurs played Arsenal.
“As daft as it sounds, I felt like Tottenham vs West Ham felt more passionate than Tottenham vs Arsenal for me when I was playing.
“It just felt more.”
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That is sure to raise a few eyebrows, especially among Tottenham fans who seem to want to play the rivalry down through an arrogant stance that they are the superior club.
The league table suggests they are right now – by a solitary point – in this most miserable of campaigns for both clubs.
It won’t be enough to save Postecoglou, but this is Potter’s first game against Spurs as West Ham boss and it can go a long way to changing the narrative building around him ahead of a huge summer.
So he needs to heed Walker’s words and make sure West Ham are on it from the off and for the entire match.
There can be no Jekyll and Hyde first and second half displays or insipid surrenders in this one.
Potter’s stock phrase after every match has been: ‘We’ve been competitive in all the games’.
That simply won’t wash with Hammers fans if they lose at home to Tottenham.