Tottenham defender Cristian Romero can strike against West Ham (Picture: Reuters)
West Ham are apparently lining up a huge summer signing by taking Ivan Toney across London – but if they fail to improve a suspect defence the Brentford striker’s arrival won’t have anywhere near the impact it should.
There are some excellent players in the Hammers’ ranks – Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, James Ward-Prowse and Mohammed Kudus readily spring to mind – but they need to overhaul their backline.
There’s no need to look any further than Saturday’s 4-3 defeat at Newcastle to prove the point. While it was an amazing match to watch for neutrals, easily a contender for one of the best of the season, it was a game West Ham should never have lost.
They overcame an early deficit to storm into a 3-1 lead and although Newcastle’s second spot-kick was controversial it was painfully obvious West Ham were going to fold and bookmakers must have taken a battering with punters backing the Magpies to steal maximum points on their in-play markets.
David Moyes’ side may be making splendid progress in the Europa League but they have beaten just Brentford and Everton in 11 Premier League matches since the turn of the year and they have gone ten top-flight outings without keeping a clean sheet.
James Ward-Prowse can find the net against Tottenham (Picture: Getty Images)
But December wins at Tottenham and Arsenal and at home to Manchester United do show they are more than capable of mixing it with the big boys and they will relish the chance of beating Spurs at the London Stadium and doing the double against their neighbours this season.
Tottenham should be too strong for the Hammers if they play to their best as they did in the 4-0 win at Aston Villa. If they are as underwhelming as they were in the 3-0 defeat at Fulham then their chances of finishing in the top four this season will suffer a serious setback.
London derbies are sometimes cagey affairs but this should be an entertaining treat and over 4.5 goals is 49/20 with BetUK and Unibet while Spurs are a widespread 11/10 to win, with William Hill and bet365 offering 18/1 for a 3-2 victory.
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These games often throw up unlikely heroes and Ward-Prowse is 9/2 to score at any time with Coral, Ladbrokes and Hills, while Cristian Romero is 12/1 with Paddy Power and Betfair to find the net for Ange Postecoglou’s visitors.
• Newcastle are evens with Betway, Betfair and bet365 to beat Everton on Tyneside and Alexander Isak is 9/2 with Betfair and Paddy Power to open the scoring.
• Portsmouth can take a giant step towards promotion to the Championship by beating Derby at Fratton Park at 13/10 with Betfair. Stick them in a double with Wrexham, who are 19/20 with the same firm to boost their chances of going up from League Two by winning at Doncaster.
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