Tottenham v West Ham preview: Fixture pile-up for Spurs continues as Harry Kane returns for London derby
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Tottenham’s gruelling run continues as Mauricio Pochettino’s men host West Ham for the second of six games in 17 days.
As such the manager is likely to bring back Harry Kane, Ryan Mason and Mousa Dembele, all three of whom were rested on Thursday as Spurs were held to a 1-1 draw by Fiorentina.
Spurs will be eager to use this match as a springboard for a pivotal series of coming fixtures; in the next week they travel to Florence for their Europa League return league before facing Chelsea in the League Cup final.
Sam Allardyce blamed his side’s own fixture pile-up for the 4-0 rout they suffered against West Bromwich Albion. But the manager, who is yet to extend a contract that expires at the end of the season, will be able to welcome defensive reinforcements as Winston Reid and James Collins return to the squad.
They will be joined by Cheikhou Kouyate and new signing Nene, who joined on a free transfer this week.
Failure to win at White Hart Lane may be fatal to a West Ham side that have won just once since Christmas. Yet they couldn’t have picked a worse time to travel to Tottenham, with the home side having reversed their home struggles, going unbeaten in their last seven.
