Tottenham and West Ham must fixate on £3m prize money this weekend - opinion

West Ham host Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium this weekend in what could be a painful watch for supporters of those clubs after a dire few weeks of league action.

Graham Potter’s men were beaten 3-2 by Brighton last time out, having dropped points against already relegated Southampton prior to that. A total of four points were snatched from the Hammers thanks to conceding injury time goals.

Those performances have led to questions about the team’s character with Potter seeming to struggle in injecting much enthusiasm into his squad since taking over from Julen Lopetegui. That’s not just been noticed by fans and pundits either, striker Niclas Fullkrug slammed the squad’s character after the draw with Southampton.

West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur struggle for league form

The German said: "It is a mindset problem. Very angry today. We don't try to play football anymore. Sorry we were s*** and I'm very angry. We don't push up anymore, we just sink and that's not the way we want to play. It is not the first time where we score a goal and then the next goal kick we just shoot the ball long."

If there’s one side that even an unbothered West Ham could get the better of right now, it could be Tottenham Hotspur. The north London side seem to already be on the beach when it comes to the Premier League with four fixtures left to play.

Spurs are condemned to a first bottom half finish since 2008 and have all their eggs of salvaging the season in a Europa League-sized basket - which is a fair enough decision from Ange Postecoglou. The Aussie’s men saw a 1-0 lead against Liverpool turn into a 5-1 defeat last weekend and took just 16 minutes to capitulate and concede two against Nottingham Forest before that.

It all points to what could be a painful watch at the London Stadium on Sunday. West Ham and Spurs must find a way to animate themselves, for the 62,500 paying fans more than anyone else.

Premier League prize money to play for at London Stadium

One way to do that is to fixate on the Premier League prize money. While the two London sides cannot be relegated and cannot reach the European qualification spots, every place in the top flight table is worth around £3 million.

Just one point separates West Ham in 17th and Spurs in 16th, making Sunday’s game somewhat of a six-pointer. Football 365 reports that last year, the 17th placed side received £11.3 million of prize money with 16th winning £14 million. If either club managed to get as high as 11th, their prize money would go up to £28.2 million.

Even if the Hammers and Spurs finish in those two spots, that £3 million difference is worth thinking about - especially with The Telegraph reporting that Tottenham Hotspur must ‘sell to buy’ this summer and with Sean Whetstone claiming West Ham could be in a ‘dire financial situation’ come the end of the campaign.

In other news, West Ham boss Graham Potter made 'robot' quip before and it didn't end well for Chelsea.