Tottenham Hotspur's first game after the first international break sees them travel to the London Stadium to face West Ham United on Saturday evening, with both sides having gone into the international break in contrasting fashion.
After two damaging losses in their opening two games -- against Sunderland and Chelsea -- West Ham produced a superb away performance to beat Nottingham Forest in their last game, somewhat easing the pressure on Graham Potter. Post that win, West Ham added Brighton centre-back Igor Julio to their ranks, in a loan move through to the end of the season. Perhaps, more importantly, they have kept hold of Lucas Paqueta, who has had a good start to the season.
Tottenham had also had an excellent start to the season, with wins over Burnley and Manchester City, but put out an uninspiring, insipid performance last time out, as they lost 1-0 to Bournemouth. In that game, it took Tottenham until the 68th minute to register their first shot on goal. It is that kind of inconsistency of performance levels that Thomas Frank will have to wipe out if Spurs are to vie for top honours this season.
Spurs have signed Randal Kolo Muani on loan from Paris Saint-Germain and Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig in an attempt to bolster their attacking ranks that have looked thin since the start of the season, following injuries to Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison.
How to watch:
The match will be available on Sky Sports in the U.K., NBC in the United States, Stan Sport in Australia, and JioHotstar in India. You can also follow ESPN's live updates.
Key Details:
Date: Saturday, September 13, 5:30 p.m. BST (12:30 p.m. ET; 10:00 p.m. IST and 2:30 a.m. AEST Sunday).
Venue: London Stadium, London.
Referee: Jarred Gillett.
VAR: John Brooks.
Team news:
West Ham United
Luis Guilherme, F: broken collarbone, OUT
Tottenham Hotspur
James Maddison, M: ACL, OUT, est. return mid-February
Dejan Kulusevski, M: knee, OUT, est. return early November
Radu Dragusin, D: ACL, OUT, est. return mid-October
Dominic Solanke, F: ankle, DOUBT
Kota Takai, D: foot, DOUBT
Expected Lineups:
West Ham (4-2-3-1)
GK: Alphonse Areola
RB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka | CB: Konstantinos Mavropanos | CB: Max Kilman | LB: El-Hadji Malick Diouf
CDM: James Ward-Prowse | CDM: Tomas Soucek
RW: Jarrod Bowen | CAM: Lucas Paqueta | LW: Mateus Fernandes
CF: Niclas Fullkrug
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1)
GK: Guglielmo Vicario
RB: Pedro Porro | CB: Cristian Romero | CB: Micky van de Ven | LB: Djed Spence
CDM: Rodrigo Bentancur | CDM: Joao Palhinha
RW: Mohammed Kudus | CAM: Pape Matar Sarr | LW: Brennan Johnson
CF: Richarlison
Stats:
West Ham have won just one of their last seven Premier League matches against Spurs.
Each of the last three Premier League meetings between West Ham and Spurs at the London Stadium has ended in a 1-1 draw.
Spurs have lost 10 of their last 16 London derbies in the Premier League.
Jarrod Bowen has had a hand in nine Premier League goals, with six goals and three assists, in his last nine appearances.
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