Preview: Can Tim Sherwood do the job?
Andre Villas-Boas was running out of time when his side conceded six without reply against Manchester City. Arsenal conceded six too but they do not have Daniel Levy pulling the strings of course. A horrific five-goal defeat to Liverpool, as was perhaps rather obvious from the moment of the final whistle, brought down the curtains on the Portuguese’s second stint at coaching in England.
Temporarily, Sherwood has been given the reins. He will not be able to call upon the injured trio of Jan Vertongen, Sandro and Younes Kaboul. Paulinho and Michael Dawson are both suspended. Vlad Chiriches and Emmanuel Adebayor are doubtful. Sam Allardyce has a lot of injury headaches of his own to deal with. Mladen Petric, Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te, Stewart Downing and Andy Carroll are all out of this one due to injuries while Kevin Nolan is suspended.
Allardyce is well aware of the fact that his side is dangerously close to the relegation zone in the Premier League and hence, might decide to field the reserves in the League Cup. Tottenham meanwhile, considered a title contender prior to the start of the Premier League season, might look at this competition as a good chance to win a trophy, especially to compensate the fans for some of their poor Premier League results.
West Ham of course claimed a win against Spurs in October, ending a run of 12 years without a win at White Hart Lane. Nonetheless, West Ham's away record is nothing short of atrocious this season; they have recorded only two wins. One of them came in White Hart Lane; the other was a victory at Burnley in the previous round of this competition.
Despite previously beating their rivals, West Ham fans would do well to remind themselves that Tottenham are far more experienced in this competition than most teams- in fact, this is Spurs' 22nd appearance in the quarterfinal stages of the League Cup, only second to that of Arsenal's 25 appearances.
The previous meeting between these two sides in the League Cup came in the Third Round in 2003 when Bobby Zamora scored the winner for Spurs.
Where to watch the match: Live Streams, Live Scores, Start Times, TV Channels
Watch Tottenham Hotspur vs. West Ham United live on Wednesday, December 18, 2013:
In Canada at 14:45 ET on beIN Sport Play Canada
In the USA at 14:45 ET on beIN Sport Play
In India, viewers can tune into Ten Sports India to watch the match.
For the complete TV listings and live scores upon kick-off, visit the Tottenham-West Ham match page.
