Tottenham Hotspur Match Preview

After ending Leicester City’s unbeaten run last time out, West Ham United are on the road again this afternoon as they face a London derby against Tottenham Hotspur.

The 3-0 victory at The King Power Stadium lifted the Hammers up to seventh place in the Premier League table but they’ve since slipped to twelfth and may fall further before kick-off, depending on the result between Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion. Nevertheless, the Irons Will be looking to climb again by making it three wins on the spin.

Both teams go into this game with momentum behind them and have had the same amount of time to prepare.

On the same day that the Irons shocked the Foxes, José Mourinho’s side later claimed an equally impressive result of their own, as they came from a goal down to comprehensively beat Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford before the international break.

What might give the visitors hope of a result here though is the fact that once this game ends, the hosts then have to quickly turn their attentions to a UEFA Europa League tie against Austrian side LASK next Thursday.

Although they lost here last season, West Ham became the first team to beat their fierce rivals at their new stadium in April 2019 and might fancy their chances of a repeat, given that the home side are yet to claim victory in North London this season.

David Moyes will be back in the dugout for the trip to The Tottenham Hotspur Stadium after completing his self-isolation period, following his positive test for Coronavirus last month. He will be hoping to continue the good work carried out by his coaching staff in his absence.

It might not be easy for Issa Diop to make an immediate return to the side after he also had to self-isolate, given the form of the partnership between Angelo Ogbonna and Fabián Balbuena. Craig Dawson may be handed a debut after completing his move to the club from Watford on Monday.

Vladimír Coufal had an excellent debut a fortnight ago and having now had two weeks to further get to know his new teammates, it’s thought that the Czech will retain his place, even though Ryan Fredericks has now recovered from the hamstring injury sustained in the 4-0 rout of Wolverhampton Wanderers last month.

Moyes will also have to decide whether to restore Captain Mark Noble to the starting line-up and if he does, it may mean that Arthur Masuaku drops to the bench, providing he is fit enough after picking up a minor knee injury on international duty.

Unfortunately for the Hammers’ fans though, new signing Saïd Benrahma won’t be involved as his initial season-long loan deal was completed later than expected on Friday, meaning that the winger has missed the deadline in order to be registered to take part.

The match is a 4:30pm kick-off and live coverage will be screened by Sky Sports from 4pm. The referee is Paul Tierney.