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Nicholas: Spurs to win v West Ham

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Charlie Nicholas has predicted that West Ham will lose to Tottenham on Saturday lunchtime. 

The Hammers are winless in six in the Premier League, but the Sky Sports pundit believes that the added bonus of having Jose Mourinho in the dugout will be enough to see Spurs through.

Speaking to Sky, he said: “Normally you get a bounce with a new manager, but I don’t know what a bounce is for Tottenham. West Ham love to turn Tottenham over more than any of the London clubs and there is something about the hostility between the two of these sides.

“Manuel Pellegrini is under serious pressure and could be sacked with a heavy defeat. One manager is trying to save himself, while the other manager – Jose Mourinho – is trying to assert his authority on a side that has had an abysmal season thus far. He won’t have any time to do it going into the weekend so they will have to batten down the hatches and get on with it

“It will be interesting to see who Mourinho picks. There are a lot of people who will be feeling down that Mauricio Pochettino has gone, but I expect a reaction from Tottenham. There will be fire in the belly and it will be feisty.”

Nicholas predicts a 2-1 win for Spurs.

OPINION

All of the focus on Saturday will be on Jose Mourinho’s first hame at Tottenham, but from a West Ham perspective, the clash could prove to be make out break for Manuel Pellegrini. The Chilean has overseen a massive slump in form in recent weeks, and with Arsenal, Chelsea, and Wolves all to come in the next few weeks, he could be running out of chances to turn things around. This match will have been earmarked as a winnable game, given how poorly Spurs have been playing of late, but with Mourinho’s appointment, it really is a mystery as to how his new side will perform. A new manager bounce is not unusual, and Mourinho is, by his very nature, a winner. That being said, he has had barely any time to get a tune out of this squad, and with so much on the line for the Hammers, this is one anybody’s guess. 

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