*** WEST HAM v SPURS *** Official Match Thread

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The only acceptable result tonight for me will be a win. (Who can forget Stalteri's winner a couple of years back. :grin A win will take us above West Ham into a lofty 13th.

BBC Team News:

West Ham midfielder Lee Bowyer is attempting to shake off a knock ahead of Monday's London derby.

Striker Dean Ashton is still out with an ankle injury.

Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric will have his groin injury assessed and Ledley King could return if he shakes off a knee problem.

Jermaine Jenas is fit following a toe injury but defender Alan Hutton (foot) and Giovani dos Santos (ankle) are out of action.

BBC Match Squads (take with a pinch of salt):

Tottenham Squad (from): Gomes, Cesar, Alnwick, Bale, Gunter, Dawson, Assou-Ekotto, Woodgate, King, Corluka, Zokora, Bentley, Huddlestone, Jenas, O'Hara, Bostock, Lennon, Jenas, Boateng, Bent, Campbell, Pavlyuchenko, Modric.

West Ham Squad (from): Green, Neill, Collins, Upson, Ilunga, Faubert, Boa Morte, Parker, Mullins, Behrami, Bellamy, Cole, Noble, Lastuvka, Tristan, Davenport, Collison, Di Michele, Bowyer.

Interesting Stats:

Harry Redknapp takes his new Tottenham charges to West Ham, hoping they will retain a 100% record for him. The 61 year old has won every Premier League game at Upton Park as an opposing manager since leaving the Hammers, where he was in charge for seven years from August 1994 to May 2001. Portsmouth won there 2-4 in March 2006, 1-2 on Boxing Day 2006 and 0-1 on 8 April this year.

Spurs, who are on course to retain the Carling Cup, need a victory to draw level with West Ham on points, but they're yet to win a London Premier League derby this season.

Gianfranco Zola's Hammers have followed a six-match winless run, with five points out of nine, a three game spell in which as many clean sheets have been kept.

They're seldon short on goals when these clubs meet. Spurs won 4-0 at White Hart Lane last March, and who could forget their dramatic clash at Upton Park 12 months earlier. The Hammers were leading 2-0 at half time and 3-2 with five minutes remaining, but contrived to lose by the odd goal in seven.

Both clubs need a confidence boosting performance, as each have a tough fixture after this; West Ham are away to Chelsea and Spurs, home to Manchester United.

Distance between the clubs: 12 miles (19 kilometres)
Tottenham are making the shortest journey of any Premier League club in this round of matches.

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Right, that's enough fuel for this fixture, don't forget to check [thread=39936]Geez's Media Coverage Thread[/thread] for watching and listening options.

COME ON YOU SPURS!

[SIZE=-4]Lots of information courtesy of the BBC and SkySports[/SIZE]


[SIZE=-4]Don't forget to head over to SC's live chat during the game. For more info click the links below.[/SIZE]

http://www.spurscommunity.co.uk/index.php?page=sc_chat

http://embed.mibbit.com/?server=irc...ity&settings=8f877fda3b59f0190c39e4e1e0db2551




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[nldnboi]

COYS!!!!!!!!

Need a good win today to get us up that table. A nice 3 - 0 will do 'em. :grin:

 

[milkman]

COME ON YOU SPURS!

Don't think I'll be watching this game, thanks Setanta. :bang:

 

[DC_Boy]

yep COYS - gonna be one helluva game

I'd take a draw no danger, but a win for us is a likely as a win for them -

the good news is that even if we lose we're still not in the drop zone - but boy would a defeat hurt neverthless - so come on spurs - and to all the travelling fans - best wishes and please please support the team and not indulge in slagging off our players -

 

[MattyP]

Really looking forward to this one, third consecutive year I'll be at that shithole Upton Park to cheer on the lads.

Come on boys, get a win, take us above our poor hosts this evening, set's us up nicely for a bigger test next week.

 

[AngerManagement]

Alot of Spurs fans have bets with their Hammer 'friends' as to who will finish higher in the league this year, as a result this becomes our first 6 pointer

 

[talkshowhost86]

Having JJ back and fit should make a difference today but I'm still concerned that we won't control the midfield enough.

I think today's game is a big one in terms of what our ambitions will be for the rest of the season. Win tonight and we can look towards the top half. Lose and we'll be right back in the thick of the relegation dog fight (particularly with United to come next).

 

[MattyP]

Alot of Spurs fans have bets with their Hammer 'friends' as to who will finish higher in the league this year, as a result this becomes our first 6 pointer

Yep, I have about £150 in bets on this every season, was gutted to have to shell out last year, so really hoping that this season I'll get back to winning ways.

Meeting one of them for some drinks before the game.

 

[Kushal]

Where's Stalteri when you need him!?

This game is more vital than the Everton one and whoever wins tonight might rest easy for a couple of weeks. Saying that, a draw will not be such a bad thing for us.

Cone On You Spurs!! A nice 2-0 win please ray:

 

[montylynch]

This is the game i look forward to all season, and dread the most. I really hope we win but i've not had good vibes about this one. I really hate west ham, their fans, the club, everything about them !!

I'd take scrappy draw anyday.

 

[Marty]

Going to my first ever away game tonight.

COYS!

 

[robbiesavagehasbreasts]

I think today's game is a big one in terms of what our ambitions will be for the rest of the season. Win tonight and we can look towards the top half. Lose and we'll be right back in the thick of the relegation dog fight (particularly with United to come next).

Right on.

At the moment we are 3 points behind 15th place, so if we lose that's gonna leave us down there at least for a couple of rounds. Even if we win we are only gonna be 15th.

 

[DC_Boy]

talking abot respective lge finishes I did some research and came up withe following

I suppose it's possible I mght have miscounted once or twice though I don't think I did - the overall trend though is an absolute (lily) whitewash of the clarets

here's the amount of times we've finished above them each decade since the 60s

Lge this decade - 6-3 ATM

90s 7-3

80s 9-1

70s 6-4

60s 10-0

50s 9-1

the 60s is my favourite decade of course - considering they had moore, hurst and peters, (not to mention mention harry redknapp ;-)

so to beat them 10-0 was quite a performance

I suspect if I go back further the results will continue in our favour - but I think six straight decades of lge superiority is sufficient to establish the trend

oh and to complete the picture

this is the average lge placings 47-07 (not my stats - taken from 606 - but they look accurate - and I think the guy was a QPR/Leeds fan - anyway he wasn't spurs AFAIK

United…………...5.23
Arsenal…………...6.11
Liverpoool…………...7.15
Everton…………...9.87
SPURS…………...10.05
Chelsea…………...12.76
Villa…………...14.53
Newcastle…………...15.55
City…………...15.97
WEST HAM…………...18.21


my caps

 

[Coyboy]

Yea going tonight, got a seat in row U and row Z. Nice. What's the nearest tube?

 

[MattyP]

Yea going tonight, got a seat in row U and row Z. Nice. What's the nearest tube?

Upton Park

 

[sidford]

enjoy your first away game marty. going to be a tough match last few games we havnt played too well in and hammers need the points as much as we do so i think a draw wouldnt be a bad one but a win would be great considering if we can go on a run over xmas we could well find ourselves in contention for 7th/8th which i would take now

 

[Coyboy]

Upton Park

Cheers, stupid question. I'm really nervous about tonight for some reason, really hope Modric is back could be the difference.

 

[MattyP]

Cheers, stupid question. I'm really nervous about tonight for some reason, really hope Modric is back could be the difference.

No problem.

Come out of the tube station, turn right, cross over the other side of the road (as all the locals will be on the right hand side, by the market where the queens pub is).

To get to the away section, you'll have to take one of the turnings on the left (ask a copper which one), walk down an alley way past the bus garage and you'll get to the away section.

 

[NickHSpurs]

Need the points tonight but I can see it ending a draw. Hoping Luka is back!

 

[rixter1]

Anyone got a spare ticket.....?