THISDAY

Spurs Host West Ham in London Derby

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Tottenham play the second of six games in 17 days as West Ham travel to White Hart Lane today. Spurs kicked off their congested fixture list with a disappoint­ing draw with Fiorentina in the Europa League on Thursday.

Mauricio Pochettino now finds himself in the difficult position of having to prioritise between trying to finish fourth in the league and trying to win the Europa League as he looks to bring Champions League football back to the Lane.

Such was the nature of the draw; Pochettino may have an eye on the second leg in Florence, as well as the Capital One Cup final which follows three days later.

West Ham will hope to catch Spurs off-guard just as they did last season, when their 3-0 victory in the correspond­ing fixture proved to be the highlight of their three victories against their London rivals.

Eric Dier scored the winner in a close encounter between the two sides on the opening day of the season, and West Ham will be out to stop a run of four games without a victory.

Harry Kane is expected to return to Spurs starting line-up after he started the Europa League last-32 tie with Fiorentina on the bench.

Kane, Ryan Mason and Mousa Dembele were rested for the 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane on Thursday but all three are likely to come back in against the Hammers.

West Ham will welcome both Winston Reid and James Collins back into their squad for the short trip to North London. The defensive duo have been missing with hamstring problems but are both back in training - as are Diego Poyet and Cheikhou Kouyate, who is available despite suffering a minor arm injury earlier in the week.

Morgan Amalfitano is suspended and Nene, who was signed earlier in the week after Andy Carroll (knee) had been ruled out for the season, will also miss out as he is not yet match fit.

Harry Kane has scored 11 goals in his last 10 Premier League matches for Tottenham.

Eight of Spurs’ last 10 Premier League victories have been by a 2-1 scoreline.

Tottenham have conceded more penalties than any other Premier League side this season (7).

West Ham have scored more headed goals (14) than any other Premier League team this season, also accounting for a divisional high 39 per cent of total scored. The Hammers have won just one of their last eight Premier League matches (W1 D4 L3).

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