Tottenham Hotspur vs West Ham United

Saturday’s Premier League action kicks off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with a high-stakes London derby between Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United.

Consistency has been Tottenham’s scourge in their worst seven-game Premier League start in 16 years (W3, D1, L3), downplaying Ange Postecoglou’s pre-season promise to ‘win things in his second season in charge.’ After a scintillating 3-0 romping of Manchester United, Spurs threw away a two-goal cushion in a morale-wracking 3-2 defeat at Brighton on the stroke of October’s international break. The impending home return should settle Tottenham’s nerves, considering they’ve won three of their four competitive matches on this ground by multi-goal margins (L1), notably scoring 3+ goals in each victory. Adding to Spurs’ confidence, they had won back-to-back home league clashes against West Ham before a 2-1 defeat in this corresponding fixture last term.

That triumph puts West Ham in a position to win two consecutive away matches against Tottenham in the Premier League era. Julen Lopetegui’s side claimed a superb 4-1 home triumph against newcomers Ipswich Town right before the international break to arrest an underwhelming five-match winless run in all competitions (D2, L3). However, terminally unable to keep a clean sheet, the Hammers have conceded at least once in six consecutive games ahead of this cross-capital trip. That could diminish their hopes of protecting an unbeaten away league record under the Spanish manager (W1, D2), with all three previous top-flight travels incidentally pitting them against fellow London rivals.