Tottenham Hotspur delivered a dominant display away at the London Stadium to emerge 3-0 winners against 10-man West Ham, and they have subsequently shot up the prediction table of Opta’s Supercomputer.
Spurs needed a statement performance following their 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth before the international break, and Thomas Frank certainly got the response he would have wanted from his players.
The first half was a cagey affair, with little to separate the sides, but the game opened up after Pape Sarr headed in Tottenham’s first goal from a corner kick.
A sending off soon followed for Thomas Soucek after a dangerous tackle on Joao Palhinha, and it was one-way traffic after that, with Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven finding the back of the net to add some gloss to the scoreline.
How Tottenham’s win over West Ham has affected Opta’s prediction table
Spurs Web has been tracking the prediction table of Opta’s Supercomputer, which, before the start of the season, predicted that Spurs would finish in 14th place, collecting an estimated 47.92 points.
Those predictions have been seesawing with each result, but after Tottenham registered their third win in four matches, the Lilywhites have now shot up the table.
According to Opta’s algorithm, Spurs are now predicted to finish in eighth place, with an estimated 55.92 points.
The data analysis platform now gives the North London side a 16.61 per cent chance of qualifying for the Champions League, which is up considerably from the start of the season.
Tottenham’s defensive record is a huge positive
What will please Frank the most about the win is that his side managed to keep yet another clean sheet – their third in four league matches.
Tottenham now have the joint-best defensive record in the Premier League this season, alongside Arsenal, having conceded just one goal in four games.
That is a huge turnaround, as this is a side which conceded 65 goals in the Premier League last term under Ange Postecoglou, albeit with their two first-choice centre-backs missing significant chunks of the season.