Tottenham v West Ham predictions: Good time for Spurs to take on Hammers

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Tottenham v West Ham in the EFL Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday.

Where to watch

Sky Sports Main Event & Football, 7.45pm Wednesday

Best bet

Tottenham
1pt 5-4 general

Team news

Tottenham
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is a doubt and Cristian Romero remains sidelined with a thigh concern. Pierluigi Gollini, Dane Scarlett and Bryan Gil are also expected to miss out.

West Ham
The visitors are missing a number of defenders including Ben Johnson, Ryan Fredericks, Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna and Aaron Cresswell. Vladimir Coufal, meanwhile, is suspended.

Match preview

After having been dumped out of the Europa Conference League, Tottenham know the EFL Cup could represent their greatest chance of silverware this season.

And fortunately for Antonio Conte's men, the team standing between them and a place in the competition's last four are ravaged by injuries and have suffered a dip in form.

West Ham's defence has been decimated by injuries, with first-team talents Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna among those sidelined while Vladimir Coufal is also out after being sent off against Arsenal in the Premier League last week.

That loss in north London means the Hammers have now won only once in their last six matches in all competitions and the tide has turned since they beat Spurs 1-0 in the league in October.

At that stage, West Ham were cruising and in the Champions League places but they now find themselves four points adrift of the Premier League top four, albeit with a game in hand.

As for Tottenham, they were struggling under Nuno Santo but they finally seem to be reaping the rewards of having Antonio Conte in the dugout.

They followed comfortable wins to nil over Brentford and Norwich with arguably their performance of the season against title-chasing Liverpool last time out.

In a fiercely contested match, Spurs held Jurgen Klopp's men to a 2-2 draw and that should do them the world of good heading into this game.

Unlike West Ham, their injury problems are starting to clear up. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Cristian Romero are their only key absentees and they are in a good position to attack this game.

Heung-Min Son has found a vein of goalscoring form for Tottenham while West Ham's primary attacking outlet Michail Antonio has looked short of confidence, failing to score in his last eight league matches.

That has impacted the entire team, who have scored only five goals in six league encounters, and this game does not come at a good time for them.

Tottenham still have plenty of work to do if they are to be in the mix for the Europa and Champions League places this term but booking their place in the semi-finals of the EFL Cup would give them a tremendous morale boost.

At odds-against, they are a decent bet to come out on top in this London derby.

Key stat

West Ham have managed only one win in their last six games in all competitions.

Inside info

Tottenham

Penalty taker Harry Kane
Free-kick wizard Eric Dier
Set-piece aerial threat Eric Dier
Card magnet Japhet Tanganga

West Ham

Penalty taker Manuel Lanzini/Mark Noble
Free-kick wizardManuel Lanzini
Set-piece aerial threatIssa Diop
Card magnetPablo Fornals

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