The fixture congestion and intensity ramp up as we remain just days away from Christmas and Boxing Day, and the football action does not stop. We take a break from the Premier League life as teams turn their attention towards the Carabao Cup quarter-finals, with up to 7 Premier League teams in the mix for the title. One of the quarter-finals game sees West Ham United travel 12 miles north to take on city-rivals Tottenham Hotspur away from home.
Tottenham Hotspur come into this game with good spirits on the back of the 2-2 draw against Liverpool at home in the Premier League. They looked defensively stable and troubled Liverpool all night on the counter. Spurs have been much more organized under Antonio Conte, and will see the Carabao Cup as a great opportunity of getting their hands on some silverware. They were dealt a blow just hours after their draw, with UEFA ruling their postponed game against Rennes in the Conference League to have been forfeited, and the Lilywhites have now crashed out of the tournament in a very controversial fashion. Conte will have looked at that competition as a must-win with a good chance of getting a trophy, but will now have to focus his attention on getting top 4 and winning a domestic competition. Spurs did well to get past Wolves and Burnley enroute to the quarter-finals and will now hope of going all the way.
West Ham have been a force to reckon with this season, taking the league with storm and barging into the top 4. However, their form of late has suffered a dip, and injury issues have not helped, seeing the Hammers win just one of their last six games. They suffered a 2-0 loss against Arsenal last time out, which was made worse by the red card shown to Vladimir Coufal adding to their woes. Although they have been in good form in the cup this season- keeping two cleansheet in the least two games- they now face another tricky test and will need to give their all if they hope to stand a chance of winning the cup. They have had a week’s rest as opposed to their quarter-final opponent, who underwent an intense game against Liverpool, and manager David Moyes will hope to capitalize on that and get the win on Wednesday night.
WHEN AND WHERE?
Date: Wednesday, 22nd December 2021.
Time: 7.45 pm BST.
Venue: Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium, London.
MATCH OFFICIALS
Referee: Chris Kavanagh.
Assistant Referees: Dan Cook and Peter Kirkup
Fourth Official: Robert Jones
TEAM NEWS
Covid-19 hit the Tottenham Hotspur dressing room a while ago, and although they seemed to have recovered well against Liverpool, they still do have a few players on the treatment table. Midfielder Pierre Emile-Hojbjerg missed out against Liverpool and is expected to be ruled out again on Wednesday night. Defender Cristian Romero is suffering from a thigh injury and is predicted to spend a few weeks on the sidelines. Winger Bryan Gil is also a doubt for the game, although his injury is unknown at this time.
West Ham will be without Czech defender Vladimir Coufal who was shown two yellow cards against Arsenal in the PL on the weekend, meaning he will undergo his one-game suspension on Wednesday night. Fellow defenders Ben Johnson and Ryan Fredricks are also sidelined through injuries of their own and will miss out on the trip to Tottenham. Summer signing Kurt Zouma and defensive partner Angelo Ogbonna are set to miss out as well, and manager David Moyes has a real problem on his hands with a shortage of defenders. Aaron Cresswell is a doubt for the game and Moyes will be hopeful the Englishman is fit to feature.
MATCH ANALYSIS
CAN WEST HAM ADD ANOTHER BIG SCALP?
West Ham United have had a brilliant EFL Cup this season so far, defeating both Manchester United and Manchester City enroute to the quarter-finals, and they look like real contenders for the title this year. They have been in really good form against the bigger teams, having already defeated the likes of United, City, Liverpool, Chelsea, and their next cup opposition in Tottenham Hotspur earlier this season. David Moyes has transformed the Hammers from a relegation team to a team that looks capable of breaking into the Champions League next season and going toe-to-toe with the other top 4 contenders like Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea, and United.
They have a well-balanced squad, and their playing style has been very attractive, and they are gaining followers by the day. Although they have been hit by an injury crisis lately, they still have a good enough squad to challenge the other quarter-finalists and have real potential to win their first major trophy since 1964. They meet a familiar foe in Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday night, having had a good record of late against them. The Irons are unbeaten in their last 3 meetings with the Lilywhites, having won 2 and drawn one, with their most recent meeting in the Premier League resulting in a 1-0 West Ham win over a very lackluster Spurs. The record will provide a boost for the Hammers considering their recent form, and they will hope to go to North London and get the victory by any means possible.
Tottenham under Antonio Conte in the Premier League have had a resurgent look about them, when at one point they were counted out of the top 4 race, but now sit just 6 points behind 4th placed Arsenal with 3 games in hand over them. They have been unbeaten in the league under Conte, and will hope to continue that form in the cup competitions as well. They were finalists in this tournament last year, and will hope to go one step better this time around and add their first major trophy since 2010 to the cabinet. All in all, this fixture has rarely disappointed, and we could be in for another close yet entertaining match on Wednesday night.
KEY PLAYERS
HARRY KANE
Back on the scoresheet after six games without scoring in the league, the English captain took his tally up to 2 goals for the season in the PL. After his transfer saga, he has not been at his best in terms of scoring goals. His lack of scoring goals is not a big area of concern as the striker has been a great asset moving forward. He has struggled with only two goals in 14 Premier League matches and will hope that the goal against Liverpool was a turning point in this season. Harry Kane irrespective of his draught has been instrumental with his positioning with dropping deep and creating spaces for Reguilon, Son, and especially Moura. Conte will hope the English men get back to scoring and creating for his teammates as he usually does. He will be needed on his best form and will hope to take advantage of West Ham’s defensive worries on Wednesday night to lead his team into the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup and hopefully go all the way to win his first-ever trophy with his boyhood club.
MICHAIL ANTONIO
West Ham’s most prominent threat up-front, Antonio’s clinical finishing combined with his physical attributes will be vital to the visitors’ goal-scoring chances on Wednesday. The Jamaican international will look to torment Spurs’ defensive line with his pace and will look to lose his marker – finding himself on the end of opportunities – running into the 18-yard-box against Spurs.
He’s going through a big dip in form, having not scored in the last 8 games, and a goal on the big stage will do his confidence and form a world of good. Antonio loves to score against big rivals and will hope to do that again on Wednesday and trouble the Tottenham defense. He scored the winner against them in October and will want to do it again.
PREDICTED LINEUPS
Tottenham predicted XI: Pierluigi Gollini; Joe Rodon, Eric Dier, Ben Davies; Japhet Tanganga, Harry Winks, Oliver Skipp, Dele Alli, Sergio Reguilon; Harry Kane, Lucas Moura.
West Ham predicted XI: Alphonse Areola; Harrison Ashby, Craig Dawson, Issa Diop, Arthur Masuaku; Declan Rice, Alex Kral, Manuel Lanzini; Nikola Vlasic, Michail Antonio, Pablo Fornals.
