London Stadium will play host to an all-London Premier League encounter between West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur, with NJ sportsbooks and other online bookmakers making the hosts slight favourites in a tough, gritty fixture.
Sunday’s showdown will give the Hammers an opportunity to go three consecutive Premier League meetings with Spurs without losing for the first time since May 2006.
West Ham came out 2-1 victors at this venue last season while they played out a 3-3 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the reverse fixture.
Going into this clash, David Moyes’ men swept Genk aside 3-0 at home in the Europa League while their cross-town rivals succumbed to a frustrating 1-0 away defeat to Vitesse in the Europa Conference League.
Only one point separates the sides ahead of the kick-off, with both sides amassing a pair of wins and a couple of losses across their last four Premier League outings.
West Ham United Preview
A lack of consistency has seen West Ham alternate between winning and losing across their last four league matches, with three of them yielding the identical 2-1 scoreline.
Since beating Leicester City 4-1 in their inaugural 2021/22 Premier League game at the London Stadium, the Hammers have gone winless in their subsequent three league matches on home turf (D1, L2).
After guiding his side to back-to-back Premier League home defeats, Moyes risks summoning devils from the past, as the last West Ham manager to lose three straight such fixtures got sacked immediately.
Manuel Pellegrini, who led the London side to four league home losses o on the trot in December 2019, received marching orders on the back of that run.
Despite West Ham’s indifferent home form, the London Stadium has been a venue of entertainment this season, with all four Premier League encounters here seeing 3+ goals and both teams scoring.
Player to watch: Michail Antonio
After a stunning start to the season that saw him register five goals and three assists in his opening five Premier League appearances, Michail Antonio has struggled to make an impact in his last two league outings.
However, the 31-year-old forward has racked up five Premier League goals against Tottenham, more than against any other side in England’s top-flight.
Tottenham Hotspur Preview
Tottenham have enjoyed an upturn in form following a run of three successive Premier League defeats, winning their last two league fixtures by an aggregate score of 5-3.
Interestingly, none of Spurs’ last 14 Premier League matches have ended as a draw (W9, L5), with 50% of those games featuring a full-time margin of a single goal.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have blown hot and cold on the road this season, winning two of their four Premier League away encounters while losing the other two.
Although both of Tottenham’s defeats during that four-game sequence came in London, the visitors can draw confidence from winning three of their last four top-flight visits to the London Stadium (L1).
Based on Spurs’ away showings, we could have action-packed first-half football on our hands here, as 61.54% of their league away goals scored/conceded this term arrived before half-time (8/13).
Player to watch: Harry Kane
It took him plenty of time and suffering, but Harry Kane broke his Premier League goal drought against Newcastle United last time out.
Widely regarded as one of the most prolific forwards in modern Premier League history, the Spurs talisman has tallied a staggering 11 top-flight goals against West Ham so far.
West Ham United vs Tottenham Hotspur Predicted Line-ups
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Lucasz Fabianski; Ben Johnson, Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell; Tomas Soucek, Declan Rice; Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma, Pablo Fornals; Michail Antonio.
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1): Hugo Lloris; Emerson Royal, Cristian Romero, Eric Dier, Sergio Reguilon; Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oliver Skipp; Lucas Moura, Tanguy Ndombele, Heung-Min Son; Harry Kane.