OPINION
West Ham have to be aware of Tottenham defender Kyle Walker-Peters using his side’s EFL Cup clash against their London rivals to stake his first-team claim.
Spurs’ clash with the Hammers is the perfect opportunity for the 21-year-old to shine as he will likely be handed an opportunity to play given that his side were in action on Monday against Manchester City in the league.
So far this season Walker-Peters has been starved of chances at Spurs as he is yet to feature in any game for them and has instead found himself frustratingly rooted to the bench.
The 21-year-old will no doubt be aiming to grab his likely chance to impress by playing out of his skin and really making sure Mauricio Pochettino notices him.
Walker-Peters, who clearly is talented given he has been capped at youth level for England, has the skillset to be a thorn in the Hammers side for multiple reasons.
The full-back, who can play on either flank, could punish the Hammers by trying to assist his side’s attack but could also prove a point to Pochettino by doing all he can to ensure his side register a clean sheet.
Given that the player is probably frustrated at being so close to the first-team without featuring this season, he will no doubt be chomping at the bit and that makes him someone the Hammers have to be aware of.
If Walker-Peters is deployed as a left-back against the Hammers the game is even more perfect for him to impress in, as when Ben Davies played in that position against Spurs’ London rivals in their league clash, he looked like the side’s weak link.
The Welsh full-back was often caught out of position which aided the Hammers when going forward and didn’t make the most of the space he was afforded when Spurs were on the attack.
Therefore with Davies’ performance against Manuel Pellegrini’s side still fresh in Pochettino’s mind, Walker-Peters can make himself a very good case for why he should be considered to feature more.
This all means that the Hammers should keep an close eye on Walker-Peters as he no doubt will use Spurs’ cup game with them in order to force Pochettino to use him more this season.
