West Ham have been rocked by a major double Spurs blow before the Premier League survival decider as two big stories emerge from north London.
Never have Premier League games involving West Ham and fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur had so much riding on them.
The Hammers must beat Leeds in east London while hoping former manager David Moyes can lead his Everton side to victory against Spurs in the north of the capital.
Plenty stranger things have happened than West Ham beating Leeds and Tottenham losing to Everton down the years.
West Ham rocked as Spurs engineer major double morale boost
So nerves will undoubtedly be jangling in the Tottenham camp, even if Roberto De Zerbi’s side are in control of the situation.
Nuno Espirito Santo and De Zerbi will be looking to glean every – and any – slight advantage as tensions reach an all-time high.
We NEED David Moyes’ help again! 🙏 Tell us your prediction for Tottenham vs Everton…
Everton's impressive away record gives us hope! 🤞
With that in mind, West Ham have been rocked by a major double Spurs blow before the Premier League survival decider.
There was uproar this week when it emerged that Tottenham’s captain Cristian Romero would not be at the club’s relegation decider against Everton.
Instead, it was claimed, he would be 7,000 miles away watching his beloved Belgrano – his former club – in their title decider against River Plate.
The fact Romero would not be at Spurs supporting his teammates as skipper sparked outrage in north London.
West Ham would have been encouraged by the distraction and potential negative effects that would have caused in the Spurs dressing room.
But there is bad news for the Hammers because Romero has jetted into London to be at the final game.
Romero jets in to rally Spurs as De Zerbi fosters last gasp togetherness
Romero has posted an image of himself getting a haircut in London via his Instagram.
The club captain flying in to rally his Spurs teammates in the dressing room ahead of the Everton clash can only give De Zerbi’s side a boost.
That’s not the only bad news for West Ham out of Tottenham overnight.
Pretend you’re Nuno – what changes are you making ahead of Leeds? 👀
If anyone says keep the back five, I'll be shocked 😂
Because De Zerbi has revealed he decided the entire Spurs squad should stay together at The Lodge last night ahead of the season finale.
It could be a genius move to foster team spirit and togetherness in order to get the result that sends West Ham down.
“It was my decision because I thought to stay together the day before, to prepare the meeting the day before, the morning of the game and to create the right atmosphere,” De Zerbi said.
It does not appear Nuno has done anything of the sort.
In fact, De Zerbi has put Nuno to shame with his commitment to the Spurs cause with his contrasting response to a big question ahead of the final game.
Moyes has made a West Ham vow for the Spurs clash as the east Londoners pray the ‘Moyesiah’ can keep them up for a third time.
The reality is West Ham’s best hope will be to take an early and commanding lead over Leeds and hope it piles pressure on Tottenham as news filters through to north London.
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