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West Ham host Tottenham in a midweek clash as the two London rivals look to position themselves inside the European places with the Premier League season quickly coming to an close.
David Moyes’ outfit suffered a heart-breaking and dramatic collapse against Newcastle in their last outing, letting slip a 3-1 lead at St. James’ Park to lose 4-3. That defeat means Eddie Howe’s team are just one point behind the Hammers in the table with both teams fighting to finish inside the top seven.
Losing such a crucial match adds more pressure on this evening’s encounter as West Ham will need to take points away from fifth placed Spurs in order to regain some momentum.
Tottenham scored another late winner to beat Luton 2-1 at the weekend which kept up their chase of finishing inside the top four. Ange Postecoglou’s men are three points behind Aston Villa, who are away to Manchester City, and Spurs have a game in hand on the midlands club.
Follow all the action from the London Stadium plus get the latest odds and tips right here:
Tottenham team news
Spurs, meanwhile, make three changes following their 2-1 win against Luton. Van de Ven returns in central defence as January signing Dragusin drops to the bench. In midfield, Bentancur replaces Sarr while the impressive Johnson is preferred to Kulusevski on the right wing.
Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Bentancur, Maddison; Johnson, Son, Werner.
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 19:20
West Ham news
Just the one change for West Ham tonight as Fabianksi replaces the injured Areola in goal. The impressive attacking trio of Bowen, Kudus and Paqueta starting behind Antonio who looks for his third goal in as many league games.
West Ham XI: Fabianski; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Paqueta; Bowen, Kudus; Antonio.
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 19:19
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 19:16
Team news coming imminently
Both starting XIs should be landing any minute now – are we in for any selection surprises?
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 19:13
Moyes hoping to give fans ‘something to shout about’
West Ham boss David Moyes is hoping to get the fans onside early at the London Stadium as they look to improve upon their poor league start in 2024.
The Hammers have won just twice in the Premier Leeague since the turn of the year and are now three games without a league win following their 4-3 away defeat against Newcastle last weekend.
Heading into this encounter, the Scotsman is hoping to steady the ship and re-energise their bid for European football: “Tottenham have done well this season, so it’s going to be a difficult game.
“We’ve tried over the last few years to challenge the big teams at home. There are a lot of big teams, and we always want to give our fans something to shout about.
“This is a big game and it’s very important to us.”
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 19:10
Ange Postecoglou not worried by Tottenham’s slow starts
Ange Postecoglou has brushed off concerns over Tottenham’s lack of first-half goals.
Spurs have now fired a blank in six consecutive first halves but produced a rally after the break at the weekend to claim a vital win against Luton like in recent results against Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Brighton.
Postecoglou’s side have not scored in the first half at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in 2024 – a run of seven matches since Pape Matar Sarr’s ninth-minute goal against Bournemouth on New Year’s Eve – but the 58-year-old is unfazed by the statistic.
“The disappointing thing about the first half is the goal we conceded,” Postecoglou insisted. “Our football was good. We created good chances, one-vs-ones, we hit the post, they blocked quite a few shots and they defended desperately.
“I think overall there was nothing wrong with our football. The goal we conceded, that was poor and that’s something we need to address. With a lot of our football, it becomes a war of attrition. We need to put pressure on the opposition because we know we’re going to run our games really strongly.”
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 19:00
Team news coming up shortly
We should have confirmed team news in about 25 minutes. Here is a look at how we think both sides may line up:
West Ham predicted XI:Fabianski; Coufal, Mavropanos, Zouma, Emerson; Ward-Prowse, Soucek, Paqueta; Bowen, Kudus; Antonio.
Tottenham predicted XI: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Sarr; Johnson, Maddison, Son; Richarlison.
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 18:50
Barcelona race to secure Ruben Amorim and leave Liverpool with two alternative manager targets
Away from build-up to this game and to some quick managerial news as the end-of-season reshuffle hots up.
The widespread feeling from industry figures directly working in this summer’s frenetic managerial market had been that Amorim would go to Barcelona and Alonso to one of Liverpool or Bayern Munich, with the Anfield club more likely to get the Basque tactician.
The Independent’s Miguel Delaney has the latest:
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 18:40
David Moyes refuses to condemn Kalvin Phillips action towards fan
The 28-year-old was captured apparently giving a middle-finger gesture towards fans who had criticised him as he boarded the team bus.
But Moyes refused to condemn Phillips’ actions and urged the London Stadium crowd to get behind the England international.
“Kalvin’s a human being and can do things which we all do at difficult times,” said the Hammers boss.
“What he needs is support behind him, people to help him and we’re going to stand with him and help him as much as we possibly can. Obviously we need all our supporters to give all our players, whoever it is, their support.”
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 18:30
Elsewhere tonight
Our focus will be on the happenings at the London Stadium but there are four other Premier League games occuring tonight which all kick-off a bit earlier. Here’s a look at them:
Newcastle v Everton (7.30pm KO)
Nottingham Forest v Fulham (7.30pm KO)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (7.45pm KO)
Burnley v Wolves (7.45pm KO)
Ben Fleming2 April 2024 18:20
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