There has been very little to feel positive about at West Ham United this season but Tony Cottee remains as determined as ever to keep the optimism flowing.
The club’s second-highest all-time goalscorer has been an outspoken critic of his beloved old employers and their performances both on and off the pitch in recent months.
He is not the only one. Saying what everyone else is thinking.
But, when a matchday rolls around, Tony Cottee just cannot help but let his heart rule his head. The West Ham United legend is in attendance for Saturday’s 3pm kick-off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The team news has landed! How do you now feel about the game after seeing that? 👀
He will have sighed a sigh of relief as Nuno Espirito Santo was handed a massive boost pre-match. Mateus Fernandes and Konstantinos Mavropanos are both fit to start. Their most in-form midfielder, and their most physically-imposing centre-half both in the XI for a massive London derby clash with arch rivals Spurs.
Pablo Felipe is also handed a full Premier League debut, alongside fellow new recruit Taty Castellanos.
Tony Cottee backs West Ham United to avoid defeat at Tottenham Hotspur
Taking to X as he posted his usual pre-match prediction, Cottee can envisage a sharing of the spoils this afternoon.
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“I think we’ve got a chance today,” Cottee writes. “Will take a draw but we need to win.
“[My prediction is] 1-1.”
In truth, a draw is not enough really for a club in West Ham’s position. Roll it back to 2023 and win away at Tottenham, and the Hammers could end the weekend only four points adrift of safety.
Presuming Nottingham Forest lose at home to Arsenal later in the day, that is.
Nuno Espirito Santo determined to use QPR win as a confidence-booster
An under-fire Thomas Frank is urging Tottenham to take some belief from a valiant second half in an otherwise disappointing FA Cup third-round exit at the hands of Aston Villa last time out.
Similarly, his opposite number is also looking to use a much-improved performance in the cup competitions as a springboard for a Premier League revival.
“We are in a tough position but we are fighting to improve our game and the way we play,” Nuno said in his pre-match press conference on Friday. “There were many matches where we played well and didn’t achieve a result, but that [QPR win in the FA Cup] happened at the weekend, so that can be our starting point for what we want to do at Spurs.
How West Ham would love to REPEAT that famous 3-0 win…
But can you work out the four missing players from the 2013 victory?
“There are many things [which explain our poor form], not only luck. There are mistakes, mistakes that we can control.
“Let’s avoid talking about referees, but football is a game of fine margins. It’s the ball that hits the post, an offside by two centimetres. We have to work to gain our luck. We have to go and fight for it.
“[Tottenham] is a good team, full of talented players. Always a tough place to go. We expect a very tough match and it’s a rival – it’s a London derby. We are going to have 30,000 fans. What they expect from us is that we put up a good fight, then we’ll see. It’s a tough opponent and we need to have a good result.
“Our focus is to go there and compete. There is a lot of football to be played, but each game is very, very important for us.”