MATCH PREVIEW: Tottenham Hotspur vs West Ham United... Again?!

Games against Tottenham always bring a sense of hatred, uncertainty and passion. This is the game we look forward to most in the season and we have three this season! However, we’re already down against them in the Premier League following their 3-2 win at the London Stadium earlier in this campaign.

So, with that in mind, we’re going to talk about the potential line-ups, as well as briefly touch on score predictions and other useful tid-bits of information.

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images

MATCH DAY SQUAD: Who makes it?

This wasn’t an easy decision to make as the perfect blend between experience and fresh legs is always going to be tough. However, we begin with Adrian in goal. It’s only fair the Spanish goalkeeper has a run out in the Cup, considering he’s watching all the Premier League games from the bench these days.

In our defensive 3, we start with Jose Fonte, Declan Rice and Angelo Ogbonna. Fonte has been a great defender thus far and continues to show his professionalism, hard work and dedication to the job. He’s paired up with Declan Rice in the center of the three defenders. Rice is a product of the club’s Youth academy and has been pretty good in past appearances for the Hammers, before being dropped completely from Match-Day squads. Beside him, Angelo Ogbonna makes his way back into the squad as well. Ogbonna’s been a good defender for us as well, especially in the previous few Carabao Cup games against Cheltenham Town and Bolton Wanderers.

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We start with Mark Noble who earns himself a call back into the squad as Captain for this West Ham squad. Noble has openly admitted he loves playing against Tottenham and a run out against them is deserved. He’s paired up with Pedro Obiang who has been a magician in a Central Defensive Midfield role. Obiang would also relish the opportunity to play against Tottenham as well.

In front of them, Nathan Holland replaces Michail Antonio on the right wing for this game. Holland is another of our youth and has shown what sort of a player he can be for West Ham, given the opportunity. Alongside him is Manuel Lanzini - goalscorer of the first Tottenham vs West Ham match at the London Stadium. The Argentinian Little Gem has been influential in previous games, however he hasn’t found form as of yet. Here’s hoping both him and Marko Arnautovic find form against Spurs as Arnautovic makes his way onto the left wing. He’s shown glimpses of what he’s truly capable, however he’s yet to score a goal and register an assist for the club.

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Toni Martinez (finally) gets his start for West Ham United in our Starting XI. His hat-trick against Manchester United’s Premier League 2 side at the London Stadium did make us wake up and once again appreciate the raw talent we have in Toni Martinez, however he’s yet to be recognized by Slaven Bilic, after the boss included the striker on the pre-season tour. He starts alongside Andy Carroll whom returns from suspension following a red-card against Burnley. The Geordie striker will need to have his wits about him as he offers a solid partnership with Martinez.

In case you’re confused as to which formation we’ve chosen, the graphic below may be of some help.

Joe Hart, Sam Byram, Winston Reid, Aaron Cresswell, Arthur Masuaku, Edimilson Fernandes and Andre Ayew all make up our bench for this all important clash against Tottenham.

Interesting thing to note here is Tottenham Hotspur will not be playing Harry Kane during this game. It’s believed Spurs will be bringing a rotated side out for this clash against West Ham, however due to some big games for Spurs, some of their key players will indeed be missing this game.

Score Predictions:

Given our current situation, it’s difficult to see us picking up a goal at all in this game, especially against Tottenham Hotspur, however nothing is impossible. With a team like this, I believe West Ham could clinch a 1-0 win over Tottenham.

It will be a very tough game, and Spurs will be bringing their absolute A-Game for this, but West Ham will be able to do it!

If you’re headed to Wembley for the match, enjoy! Let’s hope this is a better night than West Ham vs Brighton and Hove Albion.

#COYI