With the October international break now firmly behind us the focus once again shifts to the cut and thrust of the Premier League and one of the headlines fixtures of Gameweek 9 will be found at the London Stadium.
The rivalry between West Ham and Tottenham is one steeped in history and with this being the first of two meetings in a number of days there will undoubtedly be another chapter written in this ongoing story.
Tottenham will make the short trip across the capital with a number of absentees. Ones that are creating so much of a headache for manager Mauricio Pochettino, that he may wish he has a draftkings promo code available in order to refresh his squad.
A squad of players that now sees Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen ruled out until December. Originally it was believed that the centre back had picked up just a dead leg in the club’s 2-0 win over Huddersfield and that his return to full fitness would be imminent.
However, it turns out that the injury was a lot worse with a Hamstring issue being the reason for the 31 year old’s extended absence from first team action. Something that means the balance of Tottenham’s back four will no doubt be tested over the next few weeks.
Davinson Sanchez is predominately right footed and therefore he will be playing on his unnatural side when paired with teammate Toby Alderweireld, that said though they came through the test of Cardiff unscathed in their last outing thanks to a 1-0 home win.
West Ham though will look to provide more of a test though, especially when playing in front of their own fans. In addition to this they will be looking to exact revenge for the 3-2 defeat they suffered here in the league last season.
It was an interesting trio of fixtures that the two sides played last season, in all competitions it was honours even with a win a piece and also a draw. As mentioned Tottenham drew first blood after a relatively comfortable away win in the Premier League.
Although interestingly enough they fared worse when playing at Wembley, firstly they were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by their crosstown rivals. A result that was tough to take, but perhaps even more galling when you consider that they were 2-0 up at one point.
In one of Slaven Bilic’s last matches as West Ham boss, he managed to mastermind a dramatic comeback as West Ham ended up 3-2 winners to progress to the next round of England’s second knockout cup competition.
While the third meeting between the two last season, saw the two sides play out a 1-1 draw at Wembley as West Ham were now under the stewardship of David Moyes. It may not have had as many goals, but it was a case of quality rather than quantity this time around.
West Ham are now under another new manager, with Manuel Pellegrini now at the helm and after a shaky start to the campaign it is fair to say that the club have finally found some momentum. Although it was halted before the international break after defeat to Brighton.
There is no question that West Ham will raise their game for this one, they always do when Tottenham come to town. The question is just who will end up smiling once this usually bruising encounter reaches its conclusion?
