West Ham United take on Tottenham Hotspur this afternoon in their first Premier League game after the recent international break.
The Hammers have been preparing for their London derby clash with Spurs this week. Their international stars have returned to the squad, and are looking to capitalise on their upturn in form, which saw them dismantle Ipswich Town 4-1 last time out.
Facing Spurs has become one of the most exciting London derbies over recent seasons, and this one is shaping up to be no different with Julen Lopetegui’s squad able to leapfrog Spurs if they are victorious.
Last season the Irons went unbeaten in the derby with the home leg finishing in a stalemate thanks to an equaliser from Kurt Zouma, before their impressive away win coming back from 1-0 down to get two second-half goals from Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse.
They have managed to find a way to expose Ange Postecoglou’s dangerous high line, which can reap huge rewards if they can do it again.
Three key factors that will boost West Ham’s chances
Use counter-attacking football
While Lopetegui has drilled into the squad the importance of keeping possession, dictating the game and playing out from the back, they would be foolish to adopt this game plan in North London.
As we know, Spurs like to play a high line, bring their wing-backs Pedro Porro and Destiny Udogie inside to create overloads in the centre of the park and rely on the pace of their defenders like Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero to clean up at the back.
To exploit this the Hammers need to focus on counter-attacking football. They have the quality at the back with Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka to soak up pressure from Spurs’ front line.
Once they get the ball back they can use their skilful midfielders to unleash the wealth of pace and clinical finishing they possess up top to hurt Spurs like other teams have this season.
Mix up the attack
Michail Antonio has been a great servant for the club and the fans adore the striker for good reason – he’s currently the club’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer, ahead of Paolo Di Canio and club legend Mark Noble.
However, if they are to play the way we think they should they need bags of pace across the entire front line and therefore we believe they should mix things up and drop Antonio.
Utilising a front three of Mohammed Kudus and Crysenscio Summerville on the wings and Bowen through the middle, which he has played before, gives the team a more dynamic and fluid front three.
All three players can move across the pitch and use their devastating pace to attack the Spurs goal directly and all three have the goalscoring pedigree to put away their chances.
Bowen is fourth on West Ham’s all-time goalscoring list and has three goals in all competitions this season. Kudus has endured a slow start but has looked dangerous in parts, bagging his first league goal against Ipswich.
Summerville is the controversial one here. He has had a slow start to life under Lopetegui, picking up just 141 minutes in the final moments of games so far. However, there is a reason West Ham spent £25m plus add-ons for his services.
Over the last year, the 22-year-old ranks in the 96th percentile for shot-creating actions, 97th for touches in the attacking penalty area, and 87th for non-penalty goals compared to other wingers across Europe’s top five leagues, according to Fbref.
The young winger bagged 21 goals and 10 assists in all competitions for Leeds United last season and there is no reason why he cannot replicate this for the Hammers.
It’s time to start him.
Be brave with subs
As shown this season, Spurs are very susceptible to losing leads in the final moments of games. Just take a look at their last game against Brighton.
This means that taking advantage of the talent on the bench could be key to picking up three points this weekend, and Lopetegui has some gems among the substitutes.
One player I want to highlight here is summer signing, Luis Guilherme.
The young Brazilian arrived from Palmeiras in the summer for £20m but has barely touched the pitch, picking up just four Premier League minutes last time out against Ipswich on his debut.
While easing the 18-year-old into the first team is smart from Lopetegui, after clips of him in training this week were released, he could be an asset this weekend.
He has tricky footwork and an eye for goal which is dangerous to utilise late in a game. It would be too soon to start him, but bring him on with 15 minutes to go if we’re trailing and let’s see what could happen.