West Ham United encounter their first London Derby of the season, when they face off against formidable Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium in Premier League Matchday 6 early kickoff.

Buoyed by back-to-back clean sheets and their first four points of the season, the Hammers hope their new defensive steel can go up one level with a third straight shoutout. They’ll need it against one of the most talented attacking sides in the world in Spurs, who will be seeking some revenge after their last visit to West Ham’s new home virtually ended their title hopes for last season back in the spring.

The Hammers will again be without playmaker extraordinaire Manuel Lanzini for another game as his knee injury continues to persist, as well as their second best passer in Pedro Obiang. James Collins completes the injury trifecta with his ankle injury, but captain Mark Noble does return. Edimilson Fernandes’ status from his own injury issues was unclear, but he isn’t in the matchday squad in the end. Slaven Bilic has given Marko Arnautovic the start, as Andy Carroll drops to the bench.

For Mauricio Pochettino’s side, Victor Wanyama, Danny Rose and long-term absentee Erik Lamela are out.

Lineups And Bench

Here are Slaven Bilic’s pre-match column to the West Ham fans.

Of course, we have the recent memory of beating Spurs at London Stadium to look back on. It was a fantastic night, and a fantastic performance, but it will mean nothing when we kick-off today.

What is more relevant is the fact that we have now kept three clean sheets in a row, because that is the starting point for what we hope to achieve. Tottenham are a very strong team, they have quality players in every department, and we know that we have to be on top of our game for 90 minutes if we are to gain a positive result.

We are feeling confident, though. I have had some tough decisions to make with my starting line-up for this game – which is the kind of headache every manager wants. Every player knows that he must be at his highest level to keep his place, and there will be no doubt about our motivation and desire today…

Will there be more West Ham annoyance place on Spurs today? Find out in what should be another entertaining London derby.

We’ll be back at halftime.

Halftime

Michail Antonio’s injury changed the game completely. Before he went out with a lower body injury, Spurs had no chances and West Ham had the better of the play. The defending was organized and strong, and chances on the counter were there for the Hammers.

And then Antonio gets hurt.

The rest of the half became completely different, and two Harry Kane goals later, the Hammers are on the verge of a heavy defeat and taste of revenge from Tottenham after ending their title hopes a few months ago.