MATCH PREVIEW // HAMMERS HOPE TO CONTINUE HOME FORM AGAINST SPURS

By Danny McInally

Following the international break, West Ham will look to get back to winning ways against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday at London Stadium.

West Ham take on Mauricio Pochettino’s men off the back of a disappointing end to a positive run of fixtures. After a week of outstanding results at London Stadium - highlighted with a famous 3-1 win over Manchester United, the Hammers endured a tough trip to the coast and a 1-0 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion.

Tottenham Hotspur come into the game after the best ever start to a Premier League season. Manuel Pellegrini is under no illusions about the prospect of playing a Spurs who have won their last three league games, and the quality of their talismanic striker Harry Kane.

“Harry Kane, at the moment is one of the best players in the Premier League,” the West Ham manager said. 

“Tottenham are one of the strongest Premier League Teams. I think they are a very good team with a lot of young players.”

West Ham’s recent results at London Stadium have been impressive however, a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Chelsea, was followed with an 8-0 rout over Macclesfield Town in the League Cup 3 days later, an unprecedented 3-1 victory over Manchester United rounded off a perfect week at home for West Ham fans

“I hope we can continue to be strong at home, as we were against Chelsea, Manchester United and in the cup game with Macclesfield. I hope we can beat Tottenham this time.” Pellegrini said. 

It was Tottenham Hotspur, however, who were the victors during the meeting between the two at London Stadium last year, goals from both Javier Hernandez and Cheikhou Kouyate weren’t enough for the Hammers as Spurs ran out 3-2 winners. 

Forward Michael Antonio is looking forward to the challenge of facing Spurs at London Stadium claiming, It’s the perfect game to come back to.

“It’s one of those games to come and show what we can do against a top team,” said Antonio.

“We had a bad loss at Brighton. We tried hard and did what we could, but we just started the game a but slowly. When we got back into the game it was just a little bit late and we couldn’t get the goal.

“We’ve trained hard during the international break, so now we’re ready for Spurs.” 

Marko Arnautovic is set to be available for the home side, even though he only played in one game for Austria during the international break. 

“Marko is okay. He has worked with our squad without any problems. We must be careful with his knee, but it allows for him to play in the games,” added Pellegrini.

Winston Reid, Andy Carroll, Carlos Sanchez and Manuel Lanzini all remain on the side lines as hey recover from their respective long-term injuries. The game also comes too soon for Jack Wilshere show is still recovering from his ankle injury. 

The visitors will be without Dele Alli, Danny Rose and Jan Vertonghen who all miss out through injury.