Few summers will ever be as dramatic as 2025 for Tottenham Hotspur. The sacking of Ange Postecoglou (best wishes this weekend!), the incredible ups-and-downs of the transfer window, and the surprise removal of Daniel Levy have dominated the headlines, but attention can finally turn back to the actual football. The loss to Bournemouth was extremely disappointing, but there are plenty of opportunities to rebound.
Spurs will play two matches in each of the next three weeks, with the beginning of the Champions League arriving on Tuesday. Preceding that is a trip to the London Stadium, where a struggling West Ham United awaits, surely eager to make life difficult for its despised neighbors. The Hammers did enter the break with an impressive win over Forest, but Tottenham is undoubtedly the better side here.
Match Details
Date: Saturday, September 13
Time: 12:30 pm ET, 5:30 pm UK
Location: London Stadium, London
TV: NBC (US), Sky Sports Main Event (UK)
Table: West Ham (t-13th, 3 pts), Tottenham (t-3rd, 6 pts)
Amazingly, Tottenham has not won away at West Ham since 2019/20, having drawn four of the last five at the London Stadium. Last spring Wilson Odobert opened the scoring in a 1-1 affair, though that lead obviously did not last. The home fixture was much more positive, with Dejan Kulusevski, Yves Bissouma, and Heung-Min Son among the scorers in a 4-1 win, though the match is most remembered for Mohammed Kudus picking up a red for a scuffle with Micky van de Ven (after opening the scoring 70 minutes prior).
Three Big Questions
Will the new signings play (and perform)? Maybe the transfer window will be remembered for the misses more than the successes — or the questionable processes that led to both — but the fact remains that Spurs absolutely did strengthen the squad, specifically through the additions of Kudus, Joao Palhinha, Xavi Simons, and Randal Kolo Muani. With seven matches over the next 22 days, just about everyone is going to have at least some role to play.
Expecting both Simos and Kolo Muani to have significant minutes in their first match with the club is unlikely, especially coming right off of the break. However, Spurs are in dire need of something new in attack, and Simons in particular offers something that no one else on this squad (who is healthy, at least) can. Against a side like West Ham, creativity and passing is vital, and the new No. 10 might be needed right away.
Is West Ham actually not as bad as assumed? It was a terrible start for the Hammers, losing big to Sunderland and Chelsea then immediately crashing out of the League Cup against Wolves, making the 3-0 win at the City Ground all the more surprising. On the young season, West Ham is at -0.5 xGD (which is nearly level with Tottenham’s), perhaps indicating that relegation is not quite as likely as it initially seemed.
That win to end Nuno Espirito Santo’s Forest tenure was certainly deserved, though it should be said that West Ham did not score until the final 10 minutes. Still, Spurs know Jarrod Bowen, Callum Wilson, and Lucas Paqueta can cause some trouble, and they would relish the chances that were freely given to the Cherries. What is more worrying, though, was the strong defensive showing that saw Graham Potter’s side limit chances from players like Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White. That surely will be their plan again on Saturday.
New season, same problems? Tottenham lost a ton of goodwill after the impressive pair of wins to start the year by getting completely outplayed heading into the break. Since then, two new attackers have arrived, but is that enough to offer some consistency up front for the first time in years? These are the matches that need to be won, especially with a tricky Villareal side visiting next week.
On the flip side, Spurs struggling to take all three points would be nothing new here. In fact, each of the previous three derbies at the London Stadium have ended exactly 1-1, and that scoreline feels all too realistic heading into this one. If Simons starts and unlocks that missing creativity, then the visitors could definitely bag multiple goals against this defense. Another effort like against Bournemouth, though, will lead to dropped points.