West Ham face bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium and four of the Premier League’s six top pundits are predicting the same outcome.
It won’t save either of their miserable Premier League campaigns, but a win for West Ham or Spurs can at least save some face.
The London rivals simply do not like one another on the pitch, in the stands or in the respective boardrooms.
West Ham and Tottenham fans have agreed on something this week, though.
Hammers and Spurs supporters have come up with a new nickname for their derby.
Both Graham Potter and Ange Postecoglou need to listen to Kyle Walker on what West Ham vs Spurs really means.
But perhaps more so West Ham’s boss after Potter dropped an inexplicable Spurs howler ahead of the London Stadium clash.
Hammers fans are raging at Potter for wishing Spurs luck in their bid to win the Europa League.
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Postecoglou looks set to leave Tottenham even if he does achieve that.
And with just three wins in 15 games, Potter needs to start showing he is the man for West Ham amid growing concerns.
A good way to start would be beating rivals Tottenham and leapfrogging them in the Premier League table.
But how do the experts see it going?
Four of the six top pundits agree on West Ham vs Spurs as ex-boss of both clubs Harry Redknapp joins Alan Shearer, Mark Lawrenson and co in having their say.
Merson: West Ham to beat Spurs in ‘biggest game’
Paul Merson says Tottenham is one of West Ham’s ‘biggest games of the season’.
And he predicts Spurs’ focus on the Europa League will result in a comfortable win for the Hammers.
“This is one of West Ham’s biggest games of the season – Tottenham Hotspur at home in the Premier League! And this will hurt Spurs fans because they have to completely write this game off…” Merson told SportsKeeda when predicting the Hammers will win 2-0.
“West Ham have been terrible all season but I’m backing them to win because I don’t think Spurs will prioritise this game.”
Redknapp: Disastrous Hammers to beat not much better Spurs
West Ham Academy graduate, long-serving player and manager Harry Redknapp controversially went on to also manager Tottenham.
That soured his reputation among some Hammers fans. But he still oversaw some of the best years of West Ham’s modern era.
And he says what the Hammers have served up this season is very far removed from that. Yet he agrees with Merson than equally poor Spurs will be distracted, resulting in a West Ham win.
“West Ham have just had a disastrous season and to be honest, they’re quite fortunate the bottom three have been so poor,” Redknapp said.
“The owners were targeting Europe at the start of the season – they’re currently fourth bottom! Tottenham aren’t much better though. A defeat here would be their 20th in the Premier League.
“I think Spurs, like Man Utd, will rest so many players to focus on the Europa League – and the Hammers should take advantage of that and get the win.”
Sutton: Potter needs win more than Postecoglou and will get it
Chris Sutton is another who thinks the Hammers will emerge victorious, saying Potter actually needs the win even more than Postecoglou.
And he believes they will edge in – albeit unconvincingly.
“This is 17th versus 16th in the Premier League which tells you how bad both teams have been this season,” Sutton said on BBC Sport when predicting a 2-1 Hammers win.
“Everyone knows Tottenham’s focus will be on their Europa League semi-final second leg with Bodo/Glimt so I think West Ham boss Graham Potter needs a result here more than Ange Postecoglou.
“Potter’s results have been poor since he took over from Julen Lopetegui in January and the Hammers fans have not had the upturn they wanted in the way their team play either.
“Spurs can still be dangerous even when they are out of form but Ange is not going to pick his strongest team. That gives West Ham a better chance of getting the win they badly need, but I don’t see them doing it in style.”
Sky Sports experts predicts four-goal draw for rivals
Lewis Jones is Sky Sports’ leading football analyst and expert with his own column ‘Jones Knows’.
In this latest, Jones says West Ham are ‘there for the taking’ if the good Spurs show up.
But he has his doubts and has therefore predicted a 2-2 draw with Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta to expose a ‘declining’ Tottenham defender.
“If the Tottenham that showed up in midweek against Bodo/Glimt does so again – a team full of aggression, creative spark and defensive focus – then West Ham are here for the taking,” Jones said.
“However, it’s likely that we’re going to see the Spurs side that have taken just 16 points away from home this season in the Premier League, losing 10 times. It wouldn’t surprise me to see any of three match outcomes here. Great help, I know.
“West Ham’s tricky trio of Jarrod Bowen, Mohamed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta are foul drawing kings.
“The last 33 centre backs to have played against West Ham under Graham Potter have made 38 fouls between them with 25 of those 33 making at least one foul. Davies is showing clear signs of decline, making five fouls in his last four starts and is likely to be exposed at some point.”
Shearer: Awful West Ham to beat even worse Tottenham
Premier League legend Shearer claims West Ham vs Spurs is a tough game to predict because both sides are so bad.
But like several others, he believes the Hammers will get the win due to Tottenham’s Europa League focus.
Shearer said: “What a tough one to call. West Ham’s season has been awful and Tottenham’s has been even worse with the expectations and, very much like Manchester United, their season is all about the Europa League. I’m going to go for a home win.”
Leopard never changes its spots as lone Lawro backs Spurs
When Lawrenson was doing Premier League predictions for the BBC, he rarely predicted positive results for West Ham.
So much so it became a running joke among Hammers supporters, who even kept a tracker of his predictions.
Most seasons, if Lawrenson was proved right, West Ham would have been relegated.
They say a leopard never changes its spots. Now providing predictions elsewhere, Lawro is the only one of the big six pundits who thinks Spurs are going to beat West Ham, even though Postecoglou’s side are an ‘ongoing disaster’.
“West Ham haven’t won for a long time – not since February!” Lawrenson said.
“Tottenham are an ongoing disaster but I’ll stick my neck out and back them to win this just, but only because West Ham are so poor. West Ham 1-2 Tottenham.”