West Ham United

Aaron Wan-Bissaka felt his West Ham United team displayed a positive mindset to recover from the blow of conceding an early goal to claim a point against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon.

After conceding twice in the closing stages to see a potential 2-1 win turn into a 3-2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion the previous weekend, the Irons’ mettle was tested when Wilson Odobert profited from a slip at the back to give the visitors a 15th-minute lead at London Stadium.

But Graham Potter’s men did not allow their heads to drop and worked their way back level within 13 minutes - with Wan-Bissaka at the heart of the move.

The No29 received possession from Mohammed Kudus on the right-wing, and slipped a perfect pass through for Jarrod Bowen to collect inside the area and slot past Guglielmo Vicario, recording his third assist of the campaign in the process

“All round, I think every player gave their best, from the the boys who started to the boys that came on the pitch," he said.

“[We pressed with more intensity and] As a team as well, going together. That pushes everyone on.

“We had to bounce back from their goal. Obviously, that's the hard part, coming back from 1-0 down. We stayed positive and knew that we'd get our chance.”

Bowen’s strike was his tenth Premier League goal of the campaign and ensured the skipper reached that milestone for the third time as a Hammer.

Wan-Bissaka had no doubt his teammate would deliver when he slipped the ball through to him in the 28th minute, and now is determined to help the team register that long-awaited win when they head to his former club Manchester United next Sunday.

“It's always good to help the team and when Jarrod got it, I knew he was going to do something,” he explained, “Either square it or finish, and he chose to finish.

“Sometimes in football, you need luck. Obviously, we haven't had that [in recent months], but we still have a positive mindset, going into games and giving our all.

“It'll be nice to go to Old Trafford next week. I haven't been there in a while, but at the end of the day, it's a football game, and we have the mentality to go there and win.”

Jarrod Bowen reached double figures in Premier League goals in a season for the third time in his West Ham United career in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

However, the captain will take little satisfaction from reaching another personal Claret and Blue landmark as his side’s run without a top-flight win stretched to eight matches.

Against a Spurs team selection based on their UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg at Bodø/Glimt on Thursday, the Irons could not turn their general control of the game into opportunities and the spoils were shared after Bowen cancelled out Wilson Odobert's early opener.

Report & Reaction | U21s fall to second-half Man United comeback in PL2 quarter-finals

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Head Coach Graham Potter felt his West Ham United team put their gameplan into action but were unable to complete it in Sunday’s 1-1 Premier League draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

Potter’s Irons had success with their high press, enjoyed more possession and created more and better chances than Spurs, but were left to rue the mistake which led to the visitors going in front, and a lack of execution after winning the ball back in potentially fruitful positions.

A bright start was nullified when Maximilian Kilman’s clearance was blocked by Mathys Tel, who crossed for an unmarked Wilson Odobert to put the visitors in front on 15 minutes.

To Potter’s satisfaction and his team’s credit, they regrouped and levelled on 28 with a goal of real quality that started with Alphonse Areola and flowed through Lucas Paquetá, Kilman, Aaron Cresswell, Emerson, Mohammed Kudus, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and finally Jarrod Bowen, who calmly slotted his tenth Premier League goal of the season through Guglielmo Vicario’s legs.

The Hammers had opportunities to win in the second half, most notably when Bowen fired across goal and saw a flicked header pushed aside by the Spurs goalkeeper, and finally late on when James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick curled narrowly past the angle.

Potter had words of praise for the consistency and combination play shown by Wan-Bissaka, Bowen and right centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo, and also words of support for Paquetá, who was visibly emotional after being booked for a sliding challenge on Tottenham substitute Mikey Moore.

Here is what the Head Coach had to say to West Ham TV…

I think [I was satisfied] with aspects of the performance for sure, especially first half. I thought we started well, on the front foot.

We tried to press, we disrupted their build up, which is what they’re good at, and we made the game into duels. We missed some passes on the regain which is what you’re trying to do it for, to try and attack an unorganised defence.

But generally in the first half we were really good. I felt for the players because we conceded the goal from nothing with a mistake and that can be a challenge, especially with the results we’ve been having.

I thought everybody stuck together, which is a big ‘thank you’ to the supporters for that because it wasn’t an easy moment for us. But I thought they recognised the team were playing well, recognised the team were on the front foot and giving everything and we scored a really good goal to get back into the game.

Second half we were a little bit disappointed we weren’t able to sustain the level of performance from the first half. But again I think that’s a little bit understandable. We didn’t attack as well as we’d like in the second half but nevertheless we still had opportunities, we reduced Tottenham to not many. So [there are] things to be happy with but things to of course always be better.

I thought down that right side, we did well.

J-C [Todibo] has had a tight hamstring this week so we were worried about him towards the back end of the game. I thought he was doing well. Him, Aaron and Jarrod have got a nice relationship down there I think.

It was a good goal, I think it came from ‘Phonse. Spurs are not easy to play through because their physicality and how they press, they go pretty much man for man. So you’ve got to be brave with how you find your spare man and create some space and we did that well and it was a really good goal.

We’re in a tough period in terms of results for sure.

You can talk about fine lines and fine margins. We’ve had performances away at Liverpool or Brighton that you think you could have got something more from them. So [more] points [from those games and others] then make things a little bit better than what it is now but we are where we are.

We have to stick together as we’ve tried to do all through and the players have done that. It isn’t easy when you haven’t won for the time that we haven’t won at a Club like this, with the expectation that it is, to keep things moving forward or to keep things solid and together.

But at the same time we want to try and win, we know that, [both] in front of our supporters and home or away so that’s what we have to do.

We have to try and have a good week again and prepare for Manchester United.

Lucas is fine.

I think he’s given everything. Football is football. Sometimes it’s not perfect. Sometimes we criticise players when they care and when they don’t care.

It is just an action or reaction from him that once the dust settles and the blood (heart rate) gets down, he’s fine.

He’s gone through a lot, in fairness. We support him, of course, as always.

West Ham United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League, London Stadium, Sunday 4 May 2025, 2pm BST

Jarrod Bowen reached double figures in Premier League goals in a season for the third time in his West Ham United career in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

However, the captain will take little satisfaction from reaching another personal Claret and Blue landmark as his side’s run without a top-flight win stretched to eight matches.

Against a Spurs team selection based on their UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg at Bodø/Glimt on Thursday, the Irons could not turn that general control of the game into opportunities.

West Ham dominated the ball in the first half, enjoying nigh-on 60% possession, while a much-changed Tottenham played on the counter.

However, both teams created just one shot on target, from which they scored, and two other chances.

After a bright start from the Irons, which saw one three-on-two break come to nothing and penalty appeals waved away when Mohammed Kudus’s cross hit Yves Bissouma on the left arm, the home side fell behind in self-inflicted style.

A long Djed Spence ball down the left was seemingly Maximilian Kilman’s to deal with, but the defender twice cleared into Mathys Tel, who then crossed for the unmarked Wilson Odobert to control and slot past fellow Frenchman Alphonse Areola.

West Ham’s response was to press and the tactic forced Guglielmo Vicario to hurriedly clear as far as Tomáš Souček, who slipped as he shot from 30 yards and the Spurs goalkeeper and stand-in captain was able to recover to collect.

Tel then curled a free-kick into the Bobby Moore Stand before the hosts levelled – and it was a decent goal, too.

Kilman, Aaron Cresswell and Kudus – who had earlier been booked for a high boot on Kevin Danso – combined down the West Ham left. The Ghanaian spread play right to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who threaded to Bowen inside the Spurs box. The captain collected in space, looked up, and calmly slotted through Vicario’s legs at the near post.

Both teams sought a second before half-time, with Richarlison shooting over, then crossing a yard in front of Odobert for Tottenham, and Wan-Bissaka seeing a shot blocked by Bissouma for West Ham, but neither found one.

Into the second half and the game began to open up.

Tel worked Areola low down with a tame strike six minutes in, then moments later Kudus and Souček saw shots blocked in quick succession at the other end. Richarlison half-volleyed into the crowd and both Bowen and Bissouma slammed rising shots off target as the hour-mark passed.

Into the final 15 minutes and Pape Sarr sent a rasping shot narrowly over, then Vicario reacted well to push Bowen’s header from a James Ward-Prowse free-kick to safety. In added-time substitute Ward-Prowse curled a free-kick past the angle, and that was that.

In truth, neither team produced the overall attacking quality to warrant a win, and so both settled for a point and saw their indifferent Premier League campaigns continue.

West Ham remain 17th, a point and place below Tottenham, with a trip to Manchester United, a home game with Nottingham Forest and a visit to Ipswich Town to play.

West Ham United: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo (Coufal 79), Kilman, Cresswell (Mavropanos 88), Emerson, Souček (Soler 80), Paquetá (Ward-Prowse 80), Bowen ©, Kudus, Füllkrug (Ferguson 79)

Subs not used: Fabiański (GK), Rodríguez, Luis Guilherme, Ings

Goal: Bowen 28

Booked: Kudus, Paquetá

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario ©, Gray, Danso, Davies, Spence, Bissouma, Sarr, Odobert, Kulusevski, Tel, Richarlison (Moore 67)

Subs not used: Kinský (GK), Porro, Udogie, Romero, van de Ven, Bentancur, Johnson, Ajayi

Goal: Sarr 15

Booked: Davies, Tel

Referee: Michael Oliver

Attendance: 62,468

Lucas Paquetá is confident Sunday’s derby clash against Tottenham Hotspur represents the perfect opportunity for West Ham United to turn their disappointing recent form around and spark a strong finish to the season.

The Hammers welcome their capital rivals to London Stadium sat 17th in the Premier League table, following a seven-game winless run that most recently delivered a last-gasp 3-2 defeat away at Brighton & Hove Albion.

While acknowledging the team’s performances and results haven’t been good enough of late, Paquetá believes there have been flashes of quality throughout recent weeks, that stitched together could yield the points desired.

Spurs arrive on the back of a similarly frustrating spell in the league, having lost five of their last six such outings, and our No10 is looking to feed off what promises to be a bouncing atmosphere, and earn a victory that would see the Hammers leapfrog their visitors in the standings.

“It’s a big game, and an opportunity to put things right,” he said. “We go into it after being hurt by the way we lost at Brighton, and we know we’re on a tough run, so we’ll be doing everything we can to get the right result.

“We’ve had time to talk about the last game, to reflect and analyse the small details. We’ve shown some good things in matches, but as players we have to take responsibility for losing focus and not being good enough at times.

“We’re all working hard in training as always, and we just want to do everything in the four games we’ve got left to climb as high in the table as possible.

“We go again on Sunday, and we know how important this game is. A derby like this is the kind of match every player wants to be involved in. We know what it means to the fans, and we know it’s something we can take a lot from if we get the result we want.”

Despite falling 4-1 in the reverse fixture, in October 2024, West Ham came into this weekend unbeaten in four Premier League home games against Tottenham; their longest run since a run of six between 1995 and 2001.

Among those results was a 1-1 draw in late August 2022, when Paquetá made the first of his 117 appearances for the Irons following his switch from French outfit Lyon, at the start of a campaign that would end with him helping his side to UEFA Europa Conference League glory.

The 27-year-old added: “I will always remember my debut fondly. I was happy, and nervous too because I wanted to show our fans what I could do.

“We ended up doing well that season, and now we want to do well again. We want to finish strongly, and I think that would help us going into the summer and next season.

“We want to deliver happiness to the fans who have supported us throughout the ups and downs, and for them also we want to deliver a better season next year.”

West Ham United 1-1 Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League, London Stadium, Sunday 4 May 2025, 2pm BST

Jarrod Bowen reached double figures in Premier League goals in a season for the third time in his West Ham United career in Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur.

However, the captain will take little satisfaction from reaching another personal Claret and Blue landmark as his side’s run without a top-flight win stretched to eight matches.

Against a Spurs team selection based on their UEFA Europa League semi-final second leg at Bodø/Glimt on Thursday, the Irons could not turn that general control of the game into opportunities.

West Ham dominated the ball in the first half, enjoying nigh-on 60% possession, while a much-changed Tottenham played on the counter.

However, both teams created just one shot on target, from which they scored, and two other chances.

After a bright start from the Irons, which saw one three-on-two break come to nothing and penalty appeals waved away when Mohammed Kudus’s cross hit Yves Bissouma on the left arm, the home side fell behind in self-inflicted style.

A long Djed Spence ball down the left was seemingly Maximilian Kilman’s to deal with, but the defender twice cleared into Mathys Tel, who then crossed for the unmarked Wilson Odobert to control and slot past fellow Frenchman Alphonse Areola.

West Ham’s response was to press and the tactic forced Guglielmo Vicario to hurriedly clear as far as Tomáš Souček, who slipped as he shot from 30 yards and the Spurs goalkeeper and stand-in captain was able to recover to collect.

Tel then curled a free-kick into the Bobby Moore Stand before the hosts levelled – and it was a decent goal, too.

Kilman, Aaron Cresswell and Kudus – who had earlier been booked for a high boot on Kevin Danso – combined down the West Ham left. The Ghanaian spread play right to Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who threaded to Bowen inside the Spurs box. The captain collected in space, looked up, and calmly slotted through Vicario’s legs at the near post.

Both teams sought a second before half-time, with Richarlison shooting over, then crossing a yard in front of Odobert for Tottenham, and Wan-Bissaka seeing a shot blocked by Bissouma for West Ham, but neither found one.

Into the second half and the game began to open up.

Tel worked Areola low down with a tame strike six minutes in, then moments later Kudus and Souček saw shots blocked in quick succession at the other end. Richarlison half-volleyed into the crowd and both Bowen and Bissouma slammed rising shots off target as the hour-mark passed.

Into the final 15 minutes and Pape Sarr sent a rasping shot narrowly over, then Vicario reacted well to push Bowen’s header from a James Ward-Prowse free-kick to safety. In added-time substitute Ward-Prowse curled a free-kick past the angle, and that was that.

In truth, neither team produced the overall attacking quality to warrant a win, and so both settled for a point and saw their indifferent Premier League campaigns continue.

West Ham remain 17th, a point and place below Tottenham, with a trip to Manchester United, a home game with Nottingham Forest and a visit to Ipswich Town to play.

West Ham United: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo (Coufal 79), Kilman, Cresswell (Mavropanos 88), Emerson, Souček (Soler 80), Paquetá (Ward-Prowse 80), Bowen ©, Kudus, Füllkrug (Ferguson 79)

Subs not used: Fabiański (GK), Rodríguez, Luis Guilherme, Ings

Goal: Bowen 28

Booked: Kudus, Paquetá

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario ©, Gray, Danso, Davies, Spence, Bissouma, Sarr, Odobert, Kulusevski, Tel, Richarlison (Moore 67)

Subs not used: Kinský (GK), Porro, Udogie, Romero, van de Ven, Bentancur, Johnson, Ajayi

Goal: Sarr 15

Booked: Davies, Tel

Referee: Michael Oliver

Attendance: 62,468

Jarrod Bowen's tenth Premier League goal of the season cancelled out Wilson Odobert's early opener and ensured West Ham United's final London derby of the season would end 1-1.

Tottenham Hotspur took a 15th-minute lead through Odobert after Mathys Tel took advantage of a slip at the back to square for his unmarked teammate to knock home.

The Hammers hit back within 13 minutes though, when skipper Bowen timed his run perfectly to latch onto Aaron Wan-Bissaka's pass into the penalty area and coolly slot through goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario's legs.

Both sides huffed and puffed as they searched for a decisive second, but it would not come for either and the spoils were ultimately shared.

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

West Ham United's men's first team squad have shown the Club's support of Official Charity Partner Blesma, The Limbless Veterans, ahead of Sunday's Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur.

As Graham Potter's men continued to prepare for the London Stadium derby on the Rush Green training pitches, the players donned t-shirts emblazoned with the charity's logo for their latest session.

West Ham United’s charity partner Blesma, The Limbless Veterans, is an Armed Forces charity dedicated to assisting serving and ex-Service men and women who have suffered life-changing limbloss, and the Hammers will be shining a light on their work at Sunday's game, which serves as the charity's annual awareness match.

On the pitch, the Irons will be aiming to arrest a seven-match winless run, and bounce back from the agonising late 3-2 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend.