Townsend’s Tottenham tantrum is forgiven – Pochettino

Hard-fighting Tottenham Hotspur (5-1-6, 21 points) will put on the line its 11-game unbeaten run in the 2015-2016 Premier League season against contending squad West Ham United (6-3-3, 21 points) at the White Hart Lane on Sunday, November 22nd.

However, Bilic will be more than aware of the fact that West Ham are competing against sides such as Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool and Manchester United – who are much stronger in terms of squad quality and numbers.

He joined Spurs in the close season from German side Bayer Leverkusen and endeared himself to the North London club’s fans instantly, scoring three goals in his first three games.

“I am very confident that the team can do well without me”, Payet said. “This is normal for me”, the 23-year-old told the club’s website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com). “We have a lot of quality players and those who play will have to step up and do more for us”.

Spurs (fifth) and West Ham (sixth) are level on points, with Tottenham ahead on goal difference.

West Ham have won all three London derbies they have played in the league this season, beating Arsenal and Crystal Palace away and Chelsea at home.

Left-back Danny Rose has also weighed in ahead of the match, saying that Spurs’ defence has improved massively this season after learning from the mistakes which led to their poor defensive record throughout the last campaign.

“I think it’s very important to provide an identity because we are an English team but the balance from the people that come in from outside, that feel the same, [is very important]”. And without Dimitri Payet we will see how Bilic adapts, he has been a huge player for them this season.

Pochettino’s remarks suggest that the tackle might have been a little harder than what the Algerian FA indicated, but probably nothing that we need to worry about too much.