West Ham face bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur at the London Stadium as Premier League action resumes after the international break.
The Hammers welcome Spurs to east London for a clash with no shortage of sub-plots, Mohammed Kudus’ return chief among them.
Graham Potter is looking to keep the momentum from West Ham’s superb 3-0 win away at Forest last time out while Tottenham are looking to bounce back from a 1-0 home defeat to Bournemouth.
Kudus is in for a white hot reception following his comments in the wake of West Ham’s controversial sale to Spurs.
Kudus declared he ‘only wanted Spurs’ when he was unveiled as the first player to be transferred between the two clubs since January 2011.
Ghana star Kudus was also caught on camera telling Tottenham’s club doctor he would ‘find Spurs in there’ as he examined his heart during a medical.
Kudus is one of many sub-plots to West Ham vs Spurs clash
Those comments did not go down well with fans alongside claims Kudus was persistently late to training during pre-season in order to underline his desire to join Tottenham.
As well as the Kudus factor, all eyes will be on both directors’ boxes too.
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Spurs will reportedly start the club’s post-Daniel Levy era with a ‘public show of power’ from members of the family of club owner Joe Lewis as they make a rare appearance for the clash with West Ham.
The game is live on Sky Sports and cameras will undoubtedly be trained on both owners’ boxes given recent events.
West Ham fans are planning protests against the club’s owners.
There has been a major development ahead of the Spurs game after a Hammers board member agreed to meet fan groups.
Now West Ham have made an unprecedented announcement for the Spurs game as the board finally confront a major issue.
This is a rivalry that has grown in significance across the Premier League era.
The two clubs simply don’t get on and bragging rights are everything in this particular clash.
Potter is well aware of that, stating in his pre-match press conference that he and his players ‘know what the Spurs game means to fans’.
West Ham fans planning protests against the owners have a long and unwieldy list of grievances from the way the club is run to the move to the London Stadium and a lack of ambition.
One massive bone of contention has also been ticketing and stewarding at their rented home.
West Ham fans are regularly subjected to away fans getting tickets in the home sections since they moved to Stratford in 2016.
West Ham make unprecedented announcement for Spurs
Games against Man United, Arsenal, Newcastle and a host of others were marred by away fans getting in the home end last season.
That is a potentially volatile situation for any game given the tribalism which makes football so great.
But particularly in a fierce derby such as West Ham vs Tottenham.
Hammers fans feel their pleas to the club over away fans getting in the home end have been persistently ignored.
But now fan power looks to have finally won the day for West Ham.
Because the Hammers board have announced unprecedented security measures are being put in place for the game against Tottenham.
Whether it is a result of the board meeting with fan groups on Thursday or not remains to be seen, but West Ham are finally listening to their supporters over the infuriating issue.
West Ham have released a strongly worded statement telling supporters of both clubs that there will be increased security activity taking place against Tottenham Hotspur, specifically to prevent any Spurs fans gaining access to home sections of the London Stadium.
The news will prompt a collective cry of ‘about time too’ from Hammers fans.
And it is clearly to avoid a potential powder keg waiting to explode given the mood among a large section of West Ham’s fanbase.
“Supporters may observe increased security presence when entering London Stadium and may need to comply with additional checks at the turnstiles,” West Ham said in a statement.
“This is to help ensure that home supporters only are seated in the home sections and that all spectators have a comfortable experience when watching the match.
West Ham board finally confront major issue
“For security reasons, you will not be able to bring bottles, including reusable bottles, in to the stadium on Saturday and will need to decant any drinks into plastic cups at the security checkpoints.”
Fans have been advised to arrive early for the game given the extra security measures.
West Ham have also taken the decision to strictly ban half-and-half scarves at the game.
The Hammers state that any supporter, be it West Ham or Tottenham, who wears a half-and-half scarf or has items illustrating the colours/crests of both clubs will not be allowed inside the ground for the game.
In fact, if any fans are seen with half-and-half scarves from third-party sellers they will be confiscated by security staff and not returned.
Another victory for fan power at West Ham – now it remains to be seen whether the measures are actually put in place properly when the game rolls around.
West Ham vs Tottenham Hotspur kicks off at 5.30pm on Saturday evening.