Tottenham vs West Ham LIVE: Premier League team news and line-ups as Son Heung-min returns for London derby

West Ham are vying to win back-to-back league matches at Spurs for the first time since 1966.

They have won here on the last two visits with Jarrod Bowen and James Ward-Prowse overturning Cristian Romero’s opener in a 1-2 victory last December.

Before that the Hammers won 2-3 in July 2023 with Gianluca Scamacca netting the winner in the 78th minute.

Tottenham have won four of the last six home meetings in all competitions, drawing one and losing the other.

Ange Postecoglou makes two changes to the team that were defeated 3-2 by Brighton before the international break. Timo Werner and Rodrigo Bentancur are dropped with Son Heung-min and Yves Bissouma brought in.

For West Ham, Julen Lopetegui names the same starting XI that defeated Ipswich 4-1 last time out.

Tottenham XI: Vicario; Porro, Romero, Van de Ven, Udogie; Bissouma, Maddison, Kulusevski; Johnson, Solanke, Son

West Ham XI: Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Rodriguez, Soucek; Paqueta, Kudus, Bowen; Antonio

In his pre- match press conference Ange Postecoglou was asked if he knew the importance of the rivalry between Tottenham and West Ham. The manager drew on his experience of losing this fixture last season on the need to perform well today.

He said: “I was made very aware of it last year. I know what it means, an important game. Last year we played really well but didn’t win at home, the tale of that part of our season a little bit. It’s a challenging game.

“They have some fantastic players in the team and a new manager. They are doing things a little bit differently. We saw last game (a 4-1 win against Ipswich) what a threat they can be going forward.

“It’s a good challenge for us, but the emphasis has to be on us reproducing the form we’ve shown in recent times and, more importantly, sticking to principles of our game.”

Max Kilman hopes West Ham can pick up where they left off with victory over Ipswich Town by making it back-to-back wins at Tottenham.

Kilman has been ever-present at the heart of defence in the early stages of the campaign, playinf 90 minutes of every single Premier League and Carabao Cup match under Julen Lopetegui this season.

“We can’t wait for it,” Kilman told whufc.com about today’s London derby. “I’ve heard from the players what it means to the club and the fans. But that is something to enjoy.

“These are the type of games you want to be involved in. As a player, I love the challenge of these sorts of games, so it is a game that we all have to be excited for.

“There’s a lot of pressure in the games, especially with it being a derby, but this is why we play football, and I feel I thrive under the pressure of performing.”

Michail Antonio, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta were on target as Lopetegui celebrated a first Premier League victory at the London Stadium after defeats in his first three matches in charge.

“Yes, we are happy for sure, always when you win you are happy,” said the Spaniard.

Ange Postecoglou labelled Tottenham’s 3-2 loss to Brighton the ‘worst defeat’ of his tenure so far after Spurs let slip a two-goal lead, conceding three times in the second half.

Ahead of today’s match against West Ham he was asked what feedback he has since given to his players. Postecoglou replied: “I mean you can’t just dismiss what happened in the first half and just focus on the second half. It would be different if it was a really poor performance all round.

“Then, it’s not easier, but the analysis can be straightforward. The question is, ‘why were we so good in the first half and so poor in the second?’.

“The second half was more around we just didn’t look anything like ourselves. We were really passive with and without the ball. We lacked real conviction and courage in everything we did. It was almost like we felt like we had done enough.

“I hadn’t seen that before in us and it is a good lesson for the whole group that you need to make sure, irrespective of how a game is going, you stick to the core principles of your football.

“It is a timely reminder for us, particularly, in any game of football, and really in the first half we should have finished them off – when you don’t it is very easy for momentum to shift.”

West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui is hoping to build on his team’s success against Ipswich last time out but they will be without the services of striker Niclas Fullkrug who is still injured.

Lopetegui confirmed the news during the week saying: “[Niclas] Fullkrug is out, and he is continuing to recover from his injury, but the rest I hope will be able to feature. I am going to meet with them this afternoon [on Thursday], but we don’t have bad news about them.

“The problem is that Niclas had one minor injury at the start, but there’s been a bit of a complication with this injury, and we are waiting for him to recover. It’s true that we thought he would be out for two weeks maximum, but it’s been a month and a half. Hopefully he will be ready for the next matches, but right now he is out.

“It is true that we had a lot of players in different countries [on international duty], and right now not all of the players have returned. I am going to see the last of the players today and tomorrow, so until the last moment we are not going to be together.

“It is always difficult to prepare for the matches [after a break], but it happens to a lot of teams and not only us. We have to manage this and be ready for the next match against Tottenham.”