Sky Sports pundit and former Hammer Tony Gale has said that West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini has a huge chance to take a big step towards winning the Carabao Cup tonight.
He thinks that Pellegrini should put out a strong team and that if he does he expects West Ham to knock Tottenham out at the London Stadium.
Talking on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast Show (talkSPORT, Wednesday, 6am) Gale said, “It’s a great opportunity for the manager to win the fans over.
“We’re not going to get in the CL or Europe this season. But if he could win a cup he’d make himself a legend at West Ham and I hope he puts out a strong team.
“If he plays his team tonight you’d expect West Ham to win tonight. They haven’t won anything for years, this would be special.
Asked about the form of goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, he said that he was “really impressed”.
“I was quite surprised,” Gale said.
“I was thinking is he a lot better than what we’ve already got when we signed him, but I’ve been really impressed. I think he’s done really well.”
OPINION
This is a big opportunity for West Ham and the bookies agree with Gale. West Ham were 3/1 a few days ago but their odds have shortened massively to 7/4. Pellegrini has got to take the game seriously and it’s a huge opportunity for the club to get into the quarter-finals. They’re 20/1 to win the Carabao Cup and that’s not bad odds for a team who has got the talent to win it. Spurs are very narrow favourites to qualify tonight though and they will be a huge threat, with news coming out that both Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen could be set to start. It’s definitely the tie of the night and it will be fascinating to see just how seriously both managers are going to take it.