Marko Arnautovic set to be fit for Spurs clash amid injury concerns

In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Marko Arnautovic has revealed that although his injury woes may never leave him, he’s confident that he’ll be fit for the London Derby against Spurs.

Plagued with a troublesome knee injury since August, the Austrian striker first sustained the injury in West Ham’s away defeat to Arsenal and then further aggravated it scoring the third goal in the club’s first win of the season against Everton in September. This then led to Arnautovic missing the following home fixture against Chelsea which ended as a goalless draw.

However, the striker did return to selection for the 3-1 win over Manchester United and completed the full 90 minutes as the Hammers fell short at the Amex in Brighton. He did, however, admit that to do so he had to play through the pain barrier and that he had been put an individual training regime.

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Arnautovic sat down with Sky Sports News during the international break to discuss the current status of his injury.

"After a game, I need some rest for about two or three days. By the middle of the week, I am training normally with the team, training in full.

"And on the weekend I can play, that is the most important thing. Obviously, you can't do anything on this bone bruise. You can't change it you can't do nothing, you just have to treat it well to settle it down but I can handle the pain so for me in the game I am 100 per cent fit.

"I'm ready for every game. I'm ready for Northern Ireland and afterwards back at West Ham, my focus will be on Tottenham."

Arnautovic had been selected for Austria on the one condition - that he only played one of their international fixtures in the UEFA Nations League. This turned out to be a 1-0 win against Northern Ireland and Arnautovic scored the decisive goal. This was in conjunction with requests from the club who had hoped that if he were rested it would better manage the 29-year-old’s bruised and inflamed kneecap.


Spurs Preview

As West Ham’s top scorer in the Premier League this season with four goals, if the Hammers are going to get anything from bitter rivals Spurs when they visit the London Stadium this coming weekend, then Arnautovic will need to be fit and firing.

With the majority of bet makers making the North London Club the favourite and battling with odds in competition for customers, we’re going to take a look at some of the stats that surround the two sides to try and better understand how the game might unfold.


ICT Creativity Index

The ICT metric was created by the Premier League to quantify how effective a player is in the final third and is actually used to determine a player’s value in fantasy football. It takes into account a player’s influence, the degree to which a player has made an impact throughout the season, a player’s creative output, the amount of goal-scoring opportunities a player provides for their teammates and a player’s threat, gauging their efficiency in front of goal. Each player is then ranked in a creativity index, serving as a good barometer for who might be each team’s most important player.

Unsurprisingly for Spurs, it’s Harry Kane who ranks in at the top of the North London club’s ICT ranking. Despite receiving criticism from certain pundits and media outlets for having a relatively quiet start to the season, Kane receives an ICT score of 79.0 as a result of his five-goal return in the league this season.

As for West Ham, it’s Felipe Anderson who comes out on top with a ranking of 60.9 in the ICT metric, thanks to him creating 13 chances for his teammates and delivering nine successful crosses during his 8 appearances this season. Marko Arnautovic narrowly missed out on the top spot with a total ICT score of 57.3 as a result of him missing minutes from his injury.


Previous Fixtures

The same fixture last year provided plenty of entertainment, so here’s a recap of the match to jog your memory.

23 September 2017 West Ham United 2 - Tottenham Hotspur 3

Spurs’ first ever time playing in the London Stadium and they revelled in the spectacle, well for the first hour at least. With Harry Kane giving the visitors a two-goal buffer before halftime and Christian Eriksen sublimely volleying home another in the 60th minute it looked as though Spurs had the three points all but tied up.

Until five minutes later when Javier Hernandez nodded home from close range and Spurs fullback Serge Aurier received a second yellow in the 70th minute for a moronic challenge on Andy Carroll, resulting in quite a frantic end to a game which previously been a rather one-sided contest. Kouyate headed home an Arthur Masuaku cross in the 87th minute, but the Hammers failed to take advantage of their extra man and lost the game.

It could be argued though that this fixture last year bears very little relevance on the meeting between the Hammers and Spurs this weekend, as the teams, or more appropriately one team, has changed so much.

With West Ham having made seven new signings and a brand new manager in the form of Manuel Pellegrini, Hammers fans should feel very confident coming up against a Tottenham side much the same, with the exception of the emergence of January signing Lucas Moura.

So as the derby edges closer, what are your thoughts? Do you believe that West Ham’s new boys will win out or do you think Spurs’ continuity will be too strong for us? Be sure to leave your comments, below.

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