{{primary_category}}
{{/primary_category}} 
Bilic: This is what West Ham must do to stop Tottenham
By Harvey Byrne
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has told that his team must repeat Swansea’s performance against Tottenham if they are to stop Spurs themselves this weekend.
The Hammers are currently preparing to host their north London counterparts at the London stadium for an Saturday afternoon kick off.
Bilic’s side have started the campaign slowly, picking up just four points from their opening five games, while Tottenham themselves would have also been hoping for a better start with eight points from their opening fixtures.
Mauricio Pochettino’s side were also held to a disappointing 0-0 draw at Wembley against the Swans last weekend and Bilic has told that his side must now give a repeat performance against last year’s Premier League runners-up.
“Of course those results and clean sheets and four points and 3-0 against Bolton helps us, for our confidence. Every little thing helps,” told Bilic, as quoted by the official West Ham website.
Get Exclusive transfers news at Football Insider's YouTube TV channel
“Suddenly, we’re better on the ball, more compact, we can jump more and it’s all linked. To think we have done it now, it would be completely wrong and we have to build on this and not lose the basic things.
“I watched the [Spurs] Swansea game and they deserved it. They were closing them down, they were deep when needed but occasionally pressing them and breaking their rhythm. To be fair they limited Spurs on strikes from 20 yards outside the box.
“That’s what you have to do, limit them to semi-chances. Then they had some luck that is always necessary against big teams. But that’s the pattern we have to repeat.”
When Tottenham last met West Ham the Hammers essentially put an end to their title hopes in May with a goal from Manuel Lanzini proving the difference in a 1-0 scoreline.
The east London club will be hoping for a similar result this time around, but Spurs will also want to kick on from their slow start in a bid to make another attempt at their first league title.
In other Tottenham news, Tim Sherwood believes this Spurs star may quit at the end of the season.
We’ve launched a << BREAKING NEWS FEED>> exclusively for your club. ‘Like Us’ on Facebook by clicking here if you want 24/7 updates on all Tottenham breaking news.