Tottenham v Wet Spam

TEAM NEWS

Spurs striker Emmanuel Adebayor serves the first match of a three-game ban for his sending off against Arsenal.
Mousa Dembele is a doubt as he still feels discomfort in his hip despite making his comeback from a month-long injury lay-off at Lazio.
Yossi Benayoun remains sidelined for West Ham but winger Matt Jarvis returns to the squad after overcoming a shin injury.
Jack Collison (knee) and Ricardo Vaz Te (shoulder) are out.
MATCH PREVIEW

Football managers are a bit like chickens in their coop - when one is dragged off for the chop it tends to leave the others feeling distinctly uneasy.
The sudden and savage nature of the sacking of Roberto Di Matteo at Chelsea will have sent a few feathers flying but will not have surprised Andre Villas Boas, whose reign of 40 matches at Stamford Bridge spanned just two fewer games than that of the Italian.
In succeeding Harry Redknapp at Spurs, Villas Boas took over from a manager who was extremely popular with the fans, had just guided the club to fourth in the Premier League and whose common touch had only recently made him favourite for the England job with the public at large.

Under those circumstances any manager needs a good start, but Tottenham have, so far, been average under the Portuguese. Four defeats in their last five Premier League games have left him looking vulnerable and he must be hoping Daniel Levy will prove more supportive than Roman Abramovich.
Comparisons to those Tottenham managerial mishaps embodied by Christian Gross and Jacques Santini are premature; neither had Villas Boas's charm or his command of English, but he does need a winning streak.
West Ham have been punching above their weight this season and are entering a run of fixtures which will be a severe test of their credentials.
After Spurs, it's Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, West Brom, Everton and Arsenal in a fearsome, frantic month. Even five or six points from those seven games would be a terrific achievement for a squad which has only a smattering of real quality supported by a cast reliant on perspiration rather than inspiration.
The one guy at West Ham who doesn't need to be sweating is Sam Allardyce - one of the few chickens feeling safe in his coop.
MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head
Tottenham are unbeaten in their last 10 Premier League home games against West Ham (W6, D4).
West Ham have won just one of their last 10 Premier League encounters with Spurs (W1, D2, L7).
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham have lost their last three Premier League games; they have not lost four consecutive league games since a six-match losing streak in 2004-05.
Eighth-placed Spurs are 11 points worse off than they were at the equivalent stage of last season, when they were third in the table.
Andre Villas Boas's side have conceded 13 goals in their last five Premier League games.
Spurs have kept just one clean sheet in the Premier League this season in a 2-0 win against Aston Villa.
West Ham United
West Ham's total of 19 points from their first 12 games equals their best return at this stage of a Premier League season, set in 2005-06.
Only Manchester City (10) and Stoke (11) have conceded fewer goals in the Premier League this season than West Ham (12).
The Hammers have scored just four league goals away from Upton Park this season. Only Norwich and Aston Villa (3) have a worse record.
Andy Carroll has not scored in his last 14 Premier League appearances.

If I wasn't a Spurs fan I'd be laying them here at 1.72.  I'm not feeling too optimistic about this one. I think 1-1 or 0-1.   What's your bets?