Paul Merson predicts West Ham – Spurs clash; slams £50m player

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Paul Merson believes that Tottenham will come unstuck against a resurgent West Ham side this weekend after the Irons won their first game of the season at the weekend with a 1-0 win over Aston Villa; and the former Arsenal star has also berated Richarlison for his ‘showboating’ which remains a key talking point across the Premier League.

Richarlison, who picked up a fabulous assist for Harry Kane towards the end of the game against Nottingham Forest as the Lilywhites won 2-0 at the City Ground, picked up the ball moments later and starting showboating, much to the dismay of the crowd.

Generally seen as a disrespectful antic, Reds winger Brennan Johnson wiped Richarlison out in retaliation and picked up a yellow card; but the blame fell at Richarlison’s feet, with pundits and fans up and down the country marking it as disrespectful.

And Merson believes the same, stating that he backs Johnson for committing a foul against the controversial Brazilian.

Everton’s Richarlison will likely be representing Brazil at this winter’s World Cup

“West Ham got a big result against Aston Villa as they finally got their first point of the season. Tottenham, on the other hand, have got good results, but a deeper dive into their performances will tell you that they haven’t played particularly well,” Merson told SportsKeeda.

“This is a London derby and the fans will be right up for this one, so I expect this to be a cracker of a contest.

“Tottenham striker Richarlison was on the news recently for being taken out by Brennan Johnson after a bit of showboating in the dying embers of the game against Forest.

“I don’t see the need for players to showboat to be honest – they all try to be Neymar or something and attempt to take the mickey out of opposition players. Fair player to Johnson for taking him out, that’s my opinion of the situation.

“If Richarlison was playing against the likes of Tony Adams and Martin Keown, I think he’d have suffered a similar fate. Prediction: West Ham 1-1 Tottenham”

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1 Comment

  1. If it had been Ronaldinho or Maradona, everyone would be saying how brilliant they were. Only hope he scores a couple tonight to silence the critics.

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