West Ham get chance for derby redemption against Spurs

Just a week and a half after losing 1-0 to Spurs in the Premier League, West Ham have a chance for redemption against their cross-London rivals. The Carabao Cup matchup comes at the perfect time for the Hammers and the absolute worst for Spurs which should heighten the emphasis on this match for West Ham.

Perfect timing?

West Ham are coming off of a galvanizing effort at Leicester City that saw the Hammers earn a point in a 10-man draw. Mark Noble saw red after he lunged into Wilfred Ndidi’s leg with his cleats up in the 38th minute which allowed for Leicester to go full offensive for the remainder of the match.

What followed was an immense, unified defensive performance by West Ham. The Foxes had 65% possession, made 225 more passes, had 8 corners, and shot 21 times with 7 on target. The stats suitably show a man advantage. Despite their statistical domination, Leicester salvaged a point on a lucky goal that deflected off of Fabian Balbuena and past a helpless Fabianski.

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One stat that supports West Ham’s impressive defensive growth is the seven offsides they forced Leicester into. Manuel Pellegrini’s focus on defensive organization and drilling the back four as a unit has not gone unnoticed. In a short amount of time, the new man in charge had taken a team that was consistently vulnerable in defensive coverage and turned them into a top ten back four and created a, probably, top 5 top centre-back pairing, too.

Another benefit of this rematch is striker Marko Arnautovic recovering from a stomach illness. The digestive bug kept him out of the team that traveled to King Power Stadium a week after the Spurs match. Despite him still having knee issues with a nagging injury Arnautovic should make the squad for Spurs but likely won’t start.

Glandular fever is also now thoroughly in the rearview for Chicharito who started at Leicester and will likely start again when Spurs visit. He was cheated out of his start with Noble’s red card which turned him into an isolated ball chasing counter-attacker, so another start should be in the future for the Mexican striker. Michail Antonio, who relieved Chicharito, also played well and could even factor into the starting XI if Pellegrini busts out a 4-4-2 formation.

Terrible Timing for Spurs

With the Monday match in match week ten, Spurs are coming to East London on one day rest after their 1-0 loss to Manchester City. With the international break not too far in the past Spurs have Harry Kane, Hugo Lloris, Eric Dier, and Keiran Trippier amongst others, are still coming off of a busy week of matches, plus a return to Premier League action before even factoring into this Carabao Cup match.

To follow the West Ham match, Spurs play Wolves on November 3rd and just three days later have a Champions League match against PSV Eindhoven. With the pursuit of the Premier League still relatively achievable and Champions League still on the horizon, the Carabao Cup is not a priority for Spurs right now.

Compacting issues for Spurs is their current injury problems. Jan Vertonghen is out until at least Chirstmas, Dele Alli is likely going to be a bench player due to injury, and Christen Eriksen has featured off the bench a few times recently after injury but would have a heavy minutes restriction on him.

It certainly won’t be the A-team for Tottenham, but they still have massively talented players who can help challenge West Ham in this match. The silver lining for West Ham is that the Carabao Cup can be treated as a priority for the Hammers. A strong side is expected but youth will certainly factor in. Declan Rice will dictate the team’s performance from the midfield. West Ham look the better team heading into this match but need a performance that backs this assertion.