West Ham vs Tottenham Preview | Team News, Stats & Key Players | OneFootball

Sunday looks to be a great day of Premier League football, with two rivalries coming to the fore. In the early kick off, West Ham United host Tottenham. The home side will be desperate to show that they can compete with their North London rivals. Although Tottenham have a bigger rivalry with Arsenal, Nuno Espirito Santo will know that this is a game that he needs to win. There is just one point seperating the two teams in the table, which shows how big the game is. A win for either side could lift them into the top four.

David Moyes has done an excellent job at West Ham during his second spell in charge. Last season, they came close to finishing in the top four. It would have been easy for there to be a drop off in performances as they now have a Europa League campaign to deal with. However, they are thriving across multiple competitions and there has remained a consistency in their performances. A win on Sunday will put them firmly in the race for a top four finish for a second successive season.

Tottenham have had a mixed week. Last weekend, they delivered their most complete performance under Nuno, as they scored three times and should have ran out even more comfortable winners. However, supporters were reminded of the issues at the club during the week as they tasted defeat against Vitesse Arnhem in the Europa Conference League. The outfield players that started at Newcastle were left at home for the trip, therefore they should be fresh for the weekend. A lot will be learned about where this Spurs team are this weekend.

Interesting stats

Michail Antonio has scored more goals against Tottenham than any other Premier League opposition. He has found the net on five occasions against Spurs.

Tottenham have won on three of their last four visits to the London Stadium.

Key men

Antonio

There is no down playing the importance of Antonio to this West Ham team. He has been excellent for the last few seasons and emerged as the first choice striker in East London. David Moyes opted to rest him during the week, which should mean he is at his best at the weekend. The main concern with Antonio is his injury record, but he seems to be remaining fit during the current campaign. Moyes is managing him well, but it’ll be in matches like this that he will want his number nine to shine. The Jamaican international has contributed five goals and three assists so far this season. He has an excellent record against Tottenham and he will be confident of adding to his total this weekend. Antonio has the ability to bully an unconvincing Tottenham defence.

Son

It was expected that Son Heung-min would be missing for a few weeks following a positive COVID test. However, it turned out to be a false positive and he was able to start against Newcastle last weekend. The South Korean found the back of the net to continue his impressive start to the season. There were signs that his partnership with Harry Kane was getting back to its best and that will worry the rest of the league. Tottenham always have a chance of winning matches if the pair are on form. Son now has four goals and one assist in the Premier League. Spurs have struggled for goals under Nuno, but Son has been a consistent threat in the final third. He has the quality to be the match winner this weekend.

Team news

Ryan Fredericks and Mark Noble are both doubts for the weekend. It is hoped that Vladimir Coufal can feature after missing last weekend’s victory over Everton.

Matt Doherty and Ryan Sessegnon remain injury doubts. After making sweeping changes in the week, it is expected that Nuno will revert to the team that started against Newcastle last weekend. All ten outfield players didn’t travel to the Netherlands during the week.

Verdict

Tottenham will be hoping that the win over Newcastle can serve as a template for the season. However, it is unlikely that many teams will be as open as the Magpies were last weekend. Their win was more about the poor performance of Newcastle than their own good play. West Ham look to be a very good team under David Moyes and they have players that can cause Spurs a lot of problems. A home win looks to be a good bet this weekend.

West Ham 2-0 Tottenham