Two bitter rivals will lock horns at London Stadium in the Premier League on Wednesday evening, with West Ham United welcoming Tottenham Hotspur for a London derby.
West Ham will enter the contest off the back of a 1-0 victory over Aston Villa on Sunday, while Tottenham continued their strong start to the campaign with a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest on the same afternoon.
Match preview
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West Ham lost their opening three matches of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign without scoring a single goal, which left them bottom of the table, with early pressure being brought on head coach David Moyes.
However, the Hammers bounced back at Villa Park on Sunday, recording a 1-0 win over Steven Gerrard's team courtesy of a second-half goal from Pablo Fornals, with the result moving them into 16th position in the table.
West Ham have been busy in the early stages of the season, having also been involved in the Europa Conference League playoffs, beating Viborg 3-1 at home and 3-0 away to advance to the group stage of the competition, which begins on September 8.
Moyes's side have a tough run of fixtures ahead, facing Chelsea and Newcastle United in their next two after this one, and it will be fascinating to see where they are in the table heading into the September international break.
West Ham recorded a 1-0 victory in the corresponding match between the two sides last season, but they suffered a 3-1 defeat in their last game with Spurs back in March.
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Tottenham, meanwhile, have made an impressive start to the 2022-23 Premier League campaign, picking up 10 points from their four games, which has left them in third spot in the table.
Spurs opened their season with a 4-1 victory at home to Southampton before picking up a welcome point at Chelsea one week later, with Harry Kane scoring a last-gasp equaliser for the visitors.
Antonio Conte's side then recorded a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers on August 20 before running out 2-0 winners at Forest on Sunday afternoon; Kane missed a penalty against the newly-promoted side but still scored twice, with the capital outfit continuing their strong start to the campaign.
Tottenham will now take on West Ham and Fulham in back-to-back London derbies before starting their Champions League campaign at home to Marseille on September 7.
Spurs finished fourth in the Premier League last season but are being tipped to challenge even higher up the division this term, with Conte seemingly building a squad capable of closing the gap on the top two.
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Team News
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West Ham will again be without the services of summer signing Nayef Aguerd due to an ankle injury, while Craig Dawson is likely to remain out due to a thigh issue.
Ben Johnson and Aaron Cresswell are also doubts due to the problems that they picked up against Villa last time out, so fit-again Angelo Ogbonna and Vladimir Coufal could come into the side.
Head coach Moyes has a big decision to make when it comes to the final third of the field, and Michail Antonio might just get the nod over Gianluca Scamacca at centre-forward.
West Ham could also potentially register new signing Lucas Paqueta in time for him to be involved in some capacity.
As for Tottenham, Conte has revealed that Cristian Romero and Oliver Skipp are both back in training ahead of this match, with the former potentially returning to the back three.
Lucas Moura and Bryan Gil remain unavailable for selection through injury, but Spurs are otherwise in strong shape, and the bulk of the side that started against Forest should again be in the side.
Richarlison is pushing for a starting role, but Son Heung-min, Kane and Dejan Kulusevski should again play as the front three, while Rodrigo Bentancur is expected to continue alongside Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in midfield, leaving Yves Bissouma on the bench.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Kehrer, Zouma, Ogbonna; Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Fornals, Emerson; Antonio, Bowen
Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Emerson, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Perisic; Kulusevski, Kane, Son
We say: West Ham United 2-2 Tottenham Hotspur
This has all of the makings of an entertaining match, and we are expecting goals on Wednesday evening. West Ham will have gained confidence from their victory over Villa, and the Hammers should have enough to claim a share of the spoils in front of their own supporters.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
Top tip
Matt Law
