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BBC pundit Alan Shearer believes that the injuries sustained by Tottenham pair Dominic Solanke and Xavi Simons could hand West Ham the advantage in the battle to avoid relegation.

Both clubs secured victories at the weekend, which means there is still only a two-point gap separating them. Asked for his thoughts on who will survive, Shearer replied:

“I think West Ham might stay up. I still think, I mean, Tottenham had a couple of injuries as well yesterday, didn’t they? [Dominic] Solanke went off injured. [Xavi] Simons went off injured.”

One Tottenham player suffered a season-ending injury

Xavi Simons was carried off on a stretcher in the second half of Spurs’s 1-0 win over Wolves on Saturday, and it was subsequently confirmed that the Dutchman would miss the rest of the campaign and the World Cup.

In terms of Dominic Solanke’s injury, the striker has a muscular problem, and manager Roberto De Zerbi said it was “not a big” issue, but it could mean he misses one or more games.

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What are the chances of West Ham staying up?

Statisticians Opta agree with Shearer in that they believe Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are the favourites to retain their top-flight status.

They have rated the chances of the Irons going down at 37.94%, while Tottenham are given a 58.99% probability.

Other teams could yet be dragged into things if both West Ham and Spurs keep winning. However, at the moment, the likelihood of Nottingham Forest (1.96%), Leeds (1.01%) or even Newcastle (0.07%) finishing 18th are pretty low.

For all intents and purposes, it seems it will be a straight shoot-out between the two London clubs over the final four league games.

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