West Ham United welcome fierce foes Tottenham Hotspur to London Stadium on Saturday as the Premier League gets back underway.
The capital sides entered the September international break feeling contrasting emotions: West Ham were surprisingly emphatic 3–0 winners at Nottingham Forest while Spurs slumped to a tepid home defeat to Bournemouth despite a bright start to the campaign.
The Hammers, who still find themselves under immense pressure, will want to keep the good times rolling this weekend but shipped five in their only home match of the term to date. They were thumped by another London adversary in Chelsea, with Graham Potter expecting drastic improvements on home soil against the Lilywhites.
Spurs have still enjoyed a positive start to the season despite their deserved defeat to the Cherries, with victories over Burnley and Manchester City ensuring a winning beginning in the Premier League for Thomas Frank. He knows his side will be favourites for the five-mile trip and will demand better than he witnessed against Bournemouth.
Here is Sports Illustrated’s guide to the derby.
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West Ham vs. Tottenham Head-to-Head Record (Last Five Games)
Current Form (All Competitions)
West Ham Tottenham
Nottingham Forest 0–3 West Ham - 31/08/25 Tottenham 0–1 Bournemouth - 30/08/25
Wolves 3–2 West Ham - 26/08/25 Man City 0–2 Tottenham - 23/08/25
West Ham 1–5 Chelsea - 22/08/25 Tottenham 3–0 Burnley - 16/08/25
Sunderland 3–0 West Ham - 16/08/25 PSG 2–2 (4–3p) Tottenham - 13/08/25
West Ham 1–1 Lille - 09/08/25 Bayern Munich 4–0 Tottenham - 07/08/25
Country Channel
United States fuboTV, UNIVERSO NOW, Peacock, Telemundo Deportes En Vivo, NBC, UNIVERSO
United Kingdom Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD, Sky GO, Sky GO Extra, NOW TV
Canada DAZN, fubo TV, Fubo Sports Network 2, Amazon Prime Video
Mexico Caliente TV, Amazon Prime Video
Dan Ballard, Niclas Fullkrug
Niclas Füllkrug is a doubt with a calf problem. / Stu Forster/Getty Images
Potter has revealed that Niclas Füllkrug could miss out on Saturday’s affair with a calf injury sustained on international duty. The German striker has “trained lightly” and remains in contention to feature against Spurs.
Callum Wilson, who opened his West Ham account in the victory over Forest, is the prime candidate to replace Füllkrug in the lineup.
Potter has hinted at debuts for new arrivals Igor Julio and Soungoutou Magassa, the latter of whom could come straight into the side. Łukasz Fabiański has signed a new contract with West Ham after being released by the club at the end of last season.
A graphic of West Ham’s predicted lineup to face Tottenham
Callum Wilson may supply the firepower up front. / FotMob
West Ham Predicted Lineup vs. Tottenham (4-2-3-1): Hermansen; Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Diouf; Souček, Magassa; Bowen, Paquetá, Fernandes; Wilson.
Xavi Simons
Xavi Simons could make his Spurs debut. / Julian Finney/Getty Images
Tottenham know they will be without four players for the trip to the London Stadium as Yves Bissouma, Radu Drăgușin, Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison recover from respective injuries. Young Japanese defender Kota Takai is also a major doubt with a foot issue.
Dominic Solanke is another potential absentee after he missed the clash with his former club Bournemouth, but Frank has hinted at a return after the international period.
Spurs are unlikely to make too many alterations from the team that was beaten by the Cherries, but they could hand debuts to Xavi Simons and Randal Kolo Muani, both of whom signed late in the window.
Mohammed Kudus is certain to receive a hostile reception following his move from West Ham to Spurs over the summer.
Tottenham team
Simons could replace Brennan Johnson. / FotMob
Tottenham Predicted Lineup vs. West Ham (4-3-3): Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Spence; Sarr, Palhinha, Bentancur; Kudus, Richarlison, Simons.
West Ham were relieved to get their first points on the board before the international break but a late flurry of goals at the City Ground cannot paper over the cracks. It will boost confidence levels ahead of Tottenham’s visit but they still enter the match as significant underdogs.
Tottenham have drawn their last two visits to the London Stadium but could return to winning ways against a leaky Hammers defence that has conceded 11 times already this term. Frank’s high press should cause the home side serious issues and Spurs have the attacking quality to punish them.
Prediction: West Ham 1–2 Tottenham
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