Saturday’s Premier League action commences at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with an all-London showdown between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.
Old foes welcomed October’s international break in conflicting spirits.
Spurs shockingly threw away a two-goal cushion in a stomach-wrenching 3-2 defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion, suffering their third league loss this season.
Michail Antonio’s 48th-second opener set the tone for the Hammers’ first home league triumph under new manager Julen Lopetegui, offering the Spanish boss some respite during the two-week hiatus.
Lucas Paqueta was also on the scoresheet amid growing speculation linking him with a big-money transfer to Real Madrid, recently fuelled by Eduardo Camavinga’s social media activities, as per Bola Vip.
Before the Brazilian forward can start thinking about teaming up with the most successful club on the planet, he must prove his innocence in court over match-fixing allegations first.
For the time being, he remains a focal point of Lopetegui’s frontline, with the Hammers looking to fly out of the traps after hitting a pause button for a fortnight.
As a result of their first win since August, West Ham entered the break in 12th, trailing fifth-placed Aston Villa by six points.
Lopetegui Not Out of the Woods Yet
Despite posting his first home league win on the board in round seven, Lopetegui isn’t off the hook by any stretch of the imagination.
The former Wolverhampton Wanderers was supposed to be an upgrade on former manager David Moyes.
However, his early tenure has shown no signs of improvement on Moyes’ regime.
West Ham fans remain desperate for their expensively-built squad to live up to its potential.
Unless they can prove their worth in a high-profile encounter such as this, the abovementioned rout of Ipswich will feel like a fleeting moment of false hope rather than a sign of genuine progress.
Problems Keep Piling Up
Apart from their scoring woes, the Irons have been terminally unable to defend their goal.
Ipswich’s strike at the London Stadium extended West Ham’s woeful run without a clean sheet to six matches.
That wouldn’t have been an issue had they not conceded at least three goals against Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City across various competitions.
A lack of defensive resilience has been West Ham’s scourge in recent clashes against Tottenham.
Since a 1-0 home league win in October 2021, they have gone six successive meetings with Spurs without a shutout (W1, D2, L3).
Fixing that problem would be the first prerequisite for Lopetegui to launch a much-needed winning streak.
Travel Sickness
Away games hadn’t been West Ham’s strong suit under Moyes.
To put this statement into context, the Hammers won only 36.8% of their Premier League outings on the road last season (W7, D2, L10).
But there’s a looming sense that their away form could plummet to new lows under Lopetegui.
Since two unanswered second-half goals inspired West Ham to a 2-0 win against Crystal Palace on their opening Premier League travel, they’ve lost their footing away from home.
West Ham drew level early in the second half to avoid defeat against Brentford on their last league road trip.
However, before that, they needed a last-gasp equaliser to take a 1-1 stalemate at Fulham, while Liverpool trounced them 5-1 in the EFL Cup.
Slow out of the traps, Lopetegui’s charges have yet to find the net in the first half in Premier League away action this season.
That’s unacceptable for a team boasting such tremendous scoring potential.
What the bookies think
Tottenham – 19/40
Draw – 7/2
West Ham – 9/2
Odds provided by Betway, and are subject to change.