Tottenham vs West Ham: expect a cagy affair in north London

He wasn’t exactly universally popular when he took charge of Tottenham Hotspur in the summer and those fans who were skeptical have had plenty of reason to believe their initial prognosis was correct in recent weeks.

Following their victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford, things were looking rosy in north London, but things haven’t quite gone to plan since then.

They have lost four of their last five Premier League games, with only a victory over Southampton stemming the tide of defeats.

Admittedly, apart from their Wigan loss, they haven’t been games you’d necessarily expect them to win – Chelsea, Manchester City and Arsenal – but if they’re to make a serious assault on the Champions League places, then they would have expected to pick up at least some points.

All of which makes the visit of West Ham United a pretty important game for Villas-Boas and his men.

While, Spurs have been floundering, the Irons have been flying, losing just two of their last seven to see them climb above their London rivals in the league.

However, they’ve found goals pretty tricky to come by in recent games, failing to score more than one goal in any of their previous four league matches.

With only one goal scored in the two meetings between these sides last season (in West Ham’s 1-0 win at Upton Park) and Spurs low in confidence, backing this to be a low scoring affair looks the best way to cash in this Sunday tea time.

Under 2.5 goals can be backed at 11/10.

Meanwhile, Spurs are 8/13 to pick up the three points while the Irons can be backed at 5/1 to get their first win at White Hart Lane since 1999.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date