1 min Peep peep! West Ham, in claret and blue, kick off from left to right. Spurs are in white.
“Was I wrong in thinking that the long break would have given players the opportunity to develop some innovative free kicks and corners?†sniffs Gary Naylor. “I thought that they might have practised execution too. Instead, they’re worse than ever. Brighton kicked two corners out of play! Imagine rugby players being as slapdash about penalties and conversions.â€
I don’t know, I’d be tempted to reserve judgement until we see the first rugby matches after such a long break.
Team news
Tottenham Hotspur (4-2-3-1) Lloris; Aurier, Sanchez, Dier, Davies; Sissoko, Lo Celso; Lucas Moura, Alli, Son; Kane.
Substitutes: Gazzaniga, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Winks, Lamela, Sessegnon, Ndombele, Fernandes, Bergwijn.
West Ham United (4-3-2-1) Fabianski; Fredericks, Balbuena, Diop, Cresswell; Noble, Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Fornals; Antonio.
Substitutes: Randolph, Ogbonna, Johnson, Anderson, Lanzini, Wilshere, Yarmolenko, Ajeti, Silva.
Referee His name is Craig Pawson.
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Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in Tottenham. Both teams come into this match in a bit of a funk. Spurs had a perfectly good result on their return to action, a 1-1 draw at home to Manchester United, but for one reason or another the mood around the club hasn’t been great for a while now.
The same is true of West Ham, apart from the bit about a perfectly good result. They lost 2-0 at home to Wolves, a scoreline that did not flatter them, and are only outside the relegation places on goal difference. After a good start to the season – they were fifth are seven games – they have taken only 15 points from 23 games.
West Ham know from the great escape of 2006-07 that good form can appear from nowhere in a relegation battle. They could sure use something similar now.
Kick off 8.15pm.
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