Niclas Füllkrug and Aaron Cresswell return to the West Ham United starting XI for Sunday’s Premier League fixture with Tottenham Hotspur.
Germany international centre-forward Füllkrug is recalled after being named on the substitutes’ bench for last weekend’s 3-2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion.
The 32-year-old faces Spurs for the first time in his illustrious career, eager to add to the three goals and two assists he has recorded in just 586 minutes of Premier League action for the Hammers this season.
Cresswell comes up against Tottenham for the 17th time since he arrived from Ipswich Town in summer 2014. The 35-year-old has registered three assists, five wins and three clean sheets – all in home 1-0 victories – in his 16 previous appearances against the north Londoners.
The two players who drop to the bench for Head Coach Graham Potter are Dinos Mavropanos and James Ward-Prowse.
That means the starting XI will begin with Alphonse Areola in goal, with the Frenchman making his 98th appearance for West Ham and playing his 97th game in the Premier League overall for the Irons and previous club Fulham.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka starts at right wing-back, with Emerson retaining his place on the left.
In the centre, Maximilian Kilman continues his ever-present record in the starting XI. Just 13 players have played more Premier League minutes than Kilman’s 2,989 this season, and only eight of them are outfield players. Kilman will be flanked by Jean-Clair Todibo and Cresswell.
The midfield will be manned by Czech giant Tomáš Souček and Brazilian Lucas Paquetá, who made his debut against Spurs in August 2022.
The front three will be led by Füllkrug, flanked by captain Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus.
Bowen has faced Tottenham 12 times previously, scoring in a 2-1 victory in north London last season, while Kudus scored and was later red carded in our 4-1 defeat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the reverse fixture played earlier this term.
Joining Mavropanos and Ward-Prowse among the nine potential replacements are goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański, defender Vladimír Coufal, midfielders Guido Rodríguez and Carlos Soler, attacker Luis Guilherme and forward Evan Ferguson.
The squad members not included in the matchday 20 are goalkeeper Wes Foderingham, defender Ollie Scarles and midfielder Andy Irving, while Michail Antonio, Crysencio Summerville and Edson Álvarez remain on the sidelines through injury.
West Ham United: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Cresswell, Emerson, Souček, Paquetá, Bowen ©, Kudus, Füllkrug
Subs: Fabiański (GK), Coufal, Mavropanos, Rodríguez, Soler, Ward-Prowse, Luis Guilherme, Ferguson, Ings
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario ©, Spence, Danso, Davies, Gray, Bissouma, Kulusevski, Sarr, Odobert, Tel, Richarlison
Subs: Kinsky (GK), Udogie, Romero, Porro, van der Ven, Bentancur, Ajayi, Moore, Johnson
Referee: Michael Oliver