West Ham United host London rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium in the English Premier League. Both sides are in the top half of the table and enter this match after winning the previous league games.
West Ham United had a good start to the season. The Hammers have earned 14 points in eight games and won their previous fixture in the league against Everton by 1-0.
The Hammers have scored 15 goals and average around two goals per game. They have a high expected goal rate of 16.43 and are only behind Liverpool and Manchester City. The players have attempted 126 shots towards the opponents’ goal and 42 of them have been on target. 33 shots on target have been attempted from inside the opposition penalty box. The manager has preferred a 4-4-1-1 formation in which he plays with four defenders, two central midfielders (Rice and Soucek), two wide players (preferably Bowen and Fornals) Benrahma plays as attacking midfielder behind striker Michail Antonio. The manager has relied heavily on the same group of players.
West Ham have conceded ten goals and that is the main concern for the home team. The defence has just kept two clean sheets. The expected goal against rate is 13.11 for the Hammers.
Michail Antonio is the highest goal scorer for the Hammers. The forward has scored five goals and has provided three assists. He is supported by Said Benrahma has supported him with three goals and two assists to his name. Right-back Vladimir Coufal will miss this match due to a groin injury.
Tottenham Hotspur played a five-goal thriller at St.James’ Park against Newcastle United and won by a scoreline of 3-2. Spurs have won the previous two games in the league and have earned 15 points in eight games.
Tottenham Hotspur have scored nine goals in the league. Three goals were scored in the previous match against Newcastle United. The above viz shows the shot map of the previous match. A total of 12 shots were attempted with an accuracy rate of 33.3%. Overall Spurs average around 11 shots per game and have attempted 86 shots. Out of the 86 shots attempted, 37 have been on target and the shot accuracy rate is 43%.
Spurs have conceded 12 goals in the season so far and have kept three clean sheets. These clean sheets were in the first three fixtures of the season. Spurs won the first three matches then lost the three matches and now have returned to winning ways in the previous two matches.
The team is ranked low for passes into the opposition penalty area. Spurs have attempted 121 passes into the opposition penalty area and the total number of successful passes are 59. This is the lowest in the league and even less than the bottom-ranked teams.
Heung-Min Son is the in-form player for Spurs in the league. The South Korean has scored four goals and provided an assist in the seven games he has featured. Nuno rested all the players of his starting 11 for the midweek fixture against Vitesse in the UEFA Conference League and is expected to play with the same line-up from the previous game.
This London derby will be crucial for both teams. West Ham have shown an attacking threat this season and have been one of the strongest teams outside the top four. Spurs have returned to form and look to enter the Champions League places in the points table.
