West Ham v Tottenham Betting Tips: Visitors can hold their form

Friday’s Premier League match is a London derby between West Ham United and title chasers Tottenham Hotspur.

West Ham have had a very disappointing campaign and probably cannot wait for the season to end. After last season’s heroics, they have failed to improve and have fallen quitte dramatically down to 15th. They should be safe from relegation but, mathematically, they are not out of the woods yet.

The Hammers’ defence has been their main problem this season and they have the fifth-worst Goals Against record in the divsion having conceded 59 in just 35 matches – 14 more than Middlesbrough who are down in 19th. Having said that, there are perhaps signs of improvements with two clean sheets in their last two and three in their last four. In terms of the final third, West Ham have been struggling recently with no goals scored in their last two. However, over the course of the season, they have faired well with 44 goals overall.

Slaven Bilic’s side’s move to their new London Stadium at the start of the season is arguably the most contributing factor to their downfall. Although they won their last match on home soil and are unbeaten in their last two at the old Olympic Stadium, their home points haul of just 22 from 17 matches is abysmal for a team of their quality.

Tottenham are still well in the title hunt with four matches to go and currently sit just four points behind leaders Chelsea thanks to a sensational run of nine league wins on the spin. Additionally, thanks to last weekend’s victory against neighbours Arsenal, they are now guaranteed to finish ahead of their north London rivals come the end of the season.

Unsurprisingly for a team on such a good run and so close to the top of the league, Spurs have been fantastic in both boxes. Their defensive record of just 22 conceded in 34 matches is the best in the league whilst they have also not conceded a goal in any of their last four Premier League matches. Going forward, they have found the back of the net an incredible 25 times in those nine matches. Tottenham will be able to pounce on any slip-up by Chelsea no problem.

Maurcio Pochettino’s men have been superb on their travels in the last few weeks with three wins from their last three, scoring six and conceding just once, whilst they have also lost just once in their last seven league matches away from White Hart Lane.

Tottenham are the clear favourites here, and with good reason, so all bets should go their way. West Ham have lost all four matches home matches they have played against the top six teams so far and, on home turf, have only beaten Bournemouth from all of the teams in the top ten. Given these damming statistics, and the fact that Spurs have shown no signs of slowing down lately, I fully expect the visitors to come out on top in relatively comfortable fashion. The bet to go for is ‘Tottenham to Win Both Halves’, which can be had at a very well-priced 5/2. It’s worth noting that West Ham have only been in front at half time in two of their 17 home games so far this campaign.

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