BBC

Thomas Frank makes three changes to the Tottenham side that lost 2-1 to Aston Villa in the FA Cup last weekend.

Conor Gallagher starts in midfield after completing his £35 million move from Atletico Madrid earlier this week, replacing Joao Palhinha.

Cristian Romero returns from suspension to start in defence, while Randal Kolo Muani starts in attack in place of the injured Richarlison.

Lucas Bergvall, Yves Bissouma, Destiny Udogie and Dominic Solanke return and are available off the bench.

Tottenham XI: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Davies, Gray, Gallagher, Simons, Odobert, Tel, Kolo Muani.

Subs: Kinsky, Dragusin, Danso, Bissouma, Udogie, Bergvall, Solanke, Spence, Scarlett.

There are five changes for West Ham after their draining 2-1 win against Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup.

Alphonse Areola, Ollie Scarles, Tomas Soucek, Mateus Fernandes and Pablo all come in.

West Ham XI: Areola, Todibo, Mavropanos, Wan-Bissaka, Scarles, Soucek, Fernandes, Summerville, Castellanos, Bowen, Pablo.

Subs: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Julio, Wilson, Rodriguez, Potts, Kante, Mayers.

Liverpool have signed Tottenham Hotspur striker Martha Thomas on loan for the rest of the season.

The 29-year-old joins the Women's Super League's bottom side having made 66 appearances for Spurs, scoring 13 times.

Thomas joined the North London side in September 2023 from West Ham and is a Scotland international with 52 caps and 21 goals.

"I think it's the right fit, right now in my career," said Thomas, external.

"Even though it's a short loan, I'm really looking forward to be here and help this team climb the table where they deserve to be.

"I wouldn't have joined if I didn't think I could help and I didn't think it was a successful project going forward."

Gareth Taylor's side are yet to win a WSL match this season, drawing four times and losing on eight occasions, and sit one point behind West Ham in 11th.

Tottenham's home form is miserable, with two wins in 10 league games, and there is so much angst among their fans at the moment.

Similarly, West Ham's players are probably better off away from home right now because of the animosity from their supporters inside their own stadium, but their away record is just as atrocious with only one win in 10.

This is one of those games where I like to wheel out one of my favourite sayings in football - these two teams have been so bad recently that they both could lose.

It's certainly hard to make a case for either of them to win it. I am going to go with Spurs, because new signing Conor Gallagher has plenty of energy and will add some thrust and drive to their midfield.

But it's a lot easier to predict that it will be a dismal game, with Tottenham booed off after a bang-average performance that means Thomas Frank is still under pressure despite winning.

As for Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo, he is just going to be in even greater danger of getting the sack.

Sutton's prediction: 1-0

Amad and Mbeumo part of five Man Utd changes; Rodri return among three City changes

Man Utd v Man City (12:30 GMT)

Simon Stone

BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter at Old Trafford

Michael Carrick has made five changes to his first Manchester United starting line-up, bringing back Amad Diallo and Bryan Mbeumo following their return from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko both drop to the bench as Luke Shaw and Harry Maguire are included in a four-man defence, while Casemiro replaces Manuel Ugarte alongside Kobbie Mainoo in midfield.

Joshua Zirkzee is not included in the squad.

Manchester United XI: Lammens, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw, Casemiro, Mainoo, Amad, Bruno Fernandes, Dorgu, Mbeumo. Substitutes: Bayindir, Mount, Cunha, Malacia, Yoro, Ugarte, Heaven, Sesko, J Fletcher.

Three changes for Manchester City following Tuesday's Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Newcastle.

Gianluigi Donnarumma, Rico Lewis and Rodri return, with James Trafford and Nico O’Reilly dropping to the bench while Matheus Nunes is not in Pep Guardiola's squad.

Manchester City XI: Donnarumma, Lewis, Khusanov, Alleyne, Ake, Rodri, Semenyo, Foden, Bernardo Silva, Doku, Haaland. Substitutes: Trafford, Bettinelli, Reijnders, Cherki, Ait-Nouri, O’Reilly, McAidoo, Mukasa, Mfuni.

Carrick must 'earn right to stay in hot seat'

Man Utd v Man City (12:30 GMT)

Rio Ferdinand

Former Man Utd defender on 5 Live

Michael has been my mate since he was 13 or 14 years old. Selfishly I would love Michael Carrick to get the job now until the end of the season, perform brilliantly and they go 'here are the keys to Old Trafford'. That would be the perfect scenario for me.

It would have meant he would have done well and then he goes on to prove himself. It has been done before [with former players] but everyone is different. I do believe if you go in there and do well enough, you earn the opportunity to go on. That’s what football is about. Millions of times it’s been said in the changing room about earning the right to play. It’s the same with management - earn the right to stay in that hot seat. That is what Michael Carrick has to do now.

A derby first

Man Utd v Man City (12:30 GMT)

Chris Adams

BBC Sport journalist

This will be the first time in the history of the fixture that either club has gone into the game with a new boss in charge.

If Michael Carrick's men do go ahead, the five-time title winner will be wary of their inability to hold onto a lead; they have lost 14 points from winning positions this season, a problem that the now-departed Ruben Amorim struggled to address.

The Red Devils, who sit seventh, will also have to contend with the visitors' relentless running power.

Manchester City players have covered more ground than any other team in the division this season, collectively running an average of 115.6 km per game.

Haaland to get back to scoring ways?

Man Utd v Man City (12:30 GMT)

Countless Fantasy Premier League managers will have been sticking by Erling Haaland as their captain and understandably so after scoring 29 goals in 26 appearances this season.

However, he goes into today's game with just one goal - a penalty - in his last six games.

"God bless that we have Erling in our team right now and all of the season," City boss Pep Guardiola said.

"We are fortunate to have him and without him we would not be in the position we are in now.

"He brings a lot and is getting better at many, many things.

"There are a lot of games and it is an incredible period for games. Every three days there is a match, recovery is less with travel, tough conditions, central defenders (who are) tough.

"It is difficult but he'll be back."

Carrick wants to block out the noise

Man Utd v Man City (12:30 GMT)

Simon Stone

BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter at Old Trafford

Gary Neville and Roy Keane are on duty for Sky Sports as part of their match coverage at Old Trafford this afternoon.

That means more opinion on Manchester United, with Keane already making waves around his old club by having a dig at Carrick's wife Lisa over a quickly deleted social media comment she made in response to the Irishman's criticism of her husband 12 years ago.

I felt the idea of bringing in former England boss Steve Holland and Jonathan Woodgate, who includes Real Madrid among his former clubs, is quite astute because they understand what it is like to operate under the fiercest spotlight.

Not that Carrick gave the impression of being too perturbed about it when he spoke to the media yesterday.

"They’re not putting more pressure on me," he said. "I don’t feel that.

"There are plenty of opinions around, some positive, some not too much.

"It’s totally irrelevant in terms of what I focus on.

"There’s a lot that can be said, it’s the way of the world. I’m not going to pay too much attention to that."

'Results, results' - how Guardiola outlasted five Man Utd bosses

Man Utd v Man City (12:30 GMT)

Shamoon Hafez

Football news reporter at Old Trafford

When Pep Guardiola steps out at Old Trafford for the 198th Manchester derby this lunchtime, he will be taking on a sixth different United boss in his near decade-long career in charge at City.

Michael Carrick is the latest man in the Manchester United hotseat, with this his first game since joining as interim head coach after the sacking of Ruben Amorim.

As chaos continues to reign for United, there remains a calmness and serenity on the blue half of the Manchester divide.

Guardiola and his troops will be aiming to collect a league double that will keep them in the hunt for the Premier League title, while Carrick will be hoping to snatch local bragging rights in an otherwise calamitous campaign.

Read the full piece

Raising standards

Man Utd v Man City (12:30 GMT)

Simon Stone

BBC Sport Chief Football News Reporter at Old Trafford

Michael Carrick's first game in charge of Manchester United couldn't be tougher.

Manchester City represent a significant test and with a trip to Arsenal next Sunday, Carrick has been given a baptism of fire in charge of a side that failed to beat Wolves, Leeds and Burnley in their last three Premier League games.

Carrick uses his programme notes to underline his view of the road ahead.

"The standards at Manchester United must be extremely high," he said.

"Myself and the coaches are here to help the players to reach them.

"I have a great deal of confidence that they will."

Start of a new era

There's been quite a few start of a new eras at Manchester United since Sir Alex Ferguson departed in 2013, and now they are heading on another following Ruben Amorim's departure.

Former player Michael Carrick has taken charge on an interim basis until the end of the season and will be looking to steady the ship and give whoever comes in next the ideal platform to build on.

But with a game against rivals Manchester City first up, starts do not get much harder for Carrick...

Third-bottom West Ham make the short journey to Spurs, who have lost 15 of their past 28 domestic home games in all competitions and only won 25% of those fixtures.

This will be West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo's third successive league match against a side he has previously managed, following defeats by Wolves and Nottingham Forest.

Recent negative headlines have increased the pressure on head coach Thomas Frank, who unwittingly drank from an Arsenal-branded cup prior to the league defeat at Bournemouth and then suffered an FA Cup exit at home to Aston Villa.

A chorus of boos - aimed at both Frank and the players - have provided the soundtrack to a troubled time. Tottenham have won just two of their past 12 league games to sit 14th and are out of both domestic cups.

The arrival of industrious midfielder Conor Gallagher is unlikely to remedy the team's well-documented lack of attacking creativity. That has led to them being reliant on corners as a source of goals, scoring 11 times from such situations. It is the joint-highest tally in the division and, at 36.7%, by far the biggest percentage of any team's overall tally.

Spurs will doubtless be targeting West Ham's defensive frailties from set-pieces; they have conceded a league-high 12 goals from corners this season.

West Ham enjoyed a first victory in 64 days last weekend, beating QPR in the FA Cup third round thanks to a first goal for the club from £26m new signing Valentin 'Taty' Castellanos.

Nonetheless, a 10-match winless run in the league has yielded just four points and left them seven points from safety. It is their longest wait for a top-flight triumph since 2006-07, when they lost 4-3 to Spurs at the end of an 11-game streak. The Hammers are also yet to keep a clean sheet in 17 matches since Nuno's arrival in September.

Nuno praised his side's "fight and desire" last weekend but their dismal recent record in Premier League derbies suggests they have not shown those qualities often enough.

West Ham have lost all six of their Premier League fixtures against London opposition this season. Only two sides in top-flight history have endured longer runs; QPR's seven straight defeats in 1995-96 and a 13-match losing run for Fulham from August 2018 to November 2020.

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Bromley have signed Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Damola Ajayi on loan, external until the end of the season.

The 20-year-old scored on his Spurs debut - a 3-0 win against Elfsborg en-route to winning the Europa League last season.

It remains his only senior appearance for the club, though he was an unused substitute in the final victory over Manchester United in Bilbao.

Ajayi becomes the League Two leaders' first signing of the January transfer window, returning to the Ravens having represented the club at youth level.

He spent the first half of this season on loan at Doncaster Rovers, where he made 19 appearances - including 11 in League One - and scored one goal.

Tottenham forward Richarlison has been ruled out for up to seven weeks with a hamstring injury.

The 28-year-old is Spurs' top scorer this season with seven goals in 21 Premier League games.

Thomas Frank's side host West Ham in a London derby on Saturday (15:00 GMT) and have won just one of their past seven matches in all competitions.

They were knocked out of the FA Cup by Aston Villa at the weekend and are currently 14th in the top flight.

Midfielders Lucas Bergvall and Yves Bissouma are back available, while full-back Destiny Udogie and striker Dominic Solanke could be involved against the Hammers.

Spurs have signed England midfielder Conor Gallagher, 25, from Atletico Madrid for £35m with Frank hailing him as a "top signing" who is "exactly what we need".

"First and foremost he is a very good player, great experience in the Premier League, also in La Liga, captained teams," the Dane said.

"So that character, that leadership, that experience, and still young with plenty of development to reach, but coming in at a good level, bringing his pressing abilities, his directness, scoring goals, but also being able to find good positions on the pitch."

We asked for your views on what Tottenham need to do next after they completed the signing of Conor Gallagher.

Here are some of your comments:

Dan: Still need a genuinely tried and tested striker, who can hit the ground running, not one who has more sick notes than Darren Anderton and can't hit a barn door in a barn door workshop. Also need a decent top end keeper, and send Vicario out the door, because you're only as good defensively as your keeper. Having a sound keeper makes the defenders more calm and collected.

Tim: We must buy a world-class centre forward in the transfer window and l want Ivan Toney please!

David: With Gallagher and, when he returns, Maddison, backed by the two youngsters, Spurs have a chance to control midfield. Now get rid of Solanke and Richarlison, get a top-class striker as well and you start to have a midfield and front line that can win against the so-called big boys.

Former Netherlands defender John Heitinga has joined Tottenham as an assistant coach.

Heitinga started the season in charge of Dutch giants Ajax but was sacked in November following a poor start to the campaign.

He had previously been part of Arne Slot's Premier League title-winning coaching staff at Liverpool.

Spurs boss Thomas Frank said: "John is a great addition to our coaching staff. His ability, personality and character will add huge value both on and off the pitch.

"As a former defender, that will be one of his main responsibilities on the training pitch and he brings great coaching and management experiences from all levels of the game, which will really help us moving forward."