After last weekend's six-goal thriller at the Etihad Stadium, Tottenham Hotspur return to North London to face crosstown rivals West Ham United in a league clash on Thursday night. Again, West Ham United enter this matchup after scoring at home against Crystal Palace last Saturday.
Many questioned whether injury-plagued Tottenham Hotspur had what it took to compete with defending champions Manchester City away from home last Sunday, but Ange Postecoglou's side held their own tenaciously in a thrilling 3-3 draw and saved a point in the dying moments.
Son scored the odd goal at either end in the opening eight minutes before Phil Foden put City ahead, but Spurs fought back and equalized on 65 minutes through Giovanni Lo Celso's brilliant goal, his second in two consecutive games.
Jack Grealish appeared to have scored the winning goal for the Citizens nine minutes from time, but Dejan Kulusevski had the last laugh as he outpaced Nathan Ake at the back post to head in the 90th-minute equalizer before Tottenham benefited from a controversial penalty in the closing stages of the game, with referee Simon Hooper calling a penalty for a Grealish on-the-break foul on Elling Harlan for The whistle was blown for a foul, which sparked a furious reaction from the home side.
Postecoglou praised Tottenham's "belief" in the second half to get a positive result and avoid a fourth consecutive defeat, and while they remain fifth in the Premier League table, they are only two points behind fourth-placed Aston Villa, yet they are six points adrift of north London rivals Arsenal.
Tottenham Hotspur, after losing two consecutive home games against both Chelsea and Aston Villa, are preparing for back-to-back games against West Ham and sixth-placed Newcastle United in North London, which will be played in three days' time, and are looking to end their winless streak against the former on Thursday as they have won four of the last five home games against the Hammers in all competitions including the last three wins by a combined score of 7-2.
West Ham United's four-game winning streak came to an end after a 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace last weekend. Mohamed Koudous scored his fifth Hammers goal to open the scoring for his side in the 13th minute of the game, but Odsonne Edouard took advantage of the opportunity to equalize in the 53rd minute, which he gained by capitalizing on a defensive error by Konstantinos Mavropanos.
David Moyes lamented Mavropanos' "horrendous" error and was disappointed West Ham failed to build on their early attacking dominance, but they remain ninth in the table, just three points behind the top seven and six behind Thursday's opponents Tottenham Hotspur.
West Ham will recall their 1-0 home win at Tottenham Hotspur in April 2019, with Michiel Antonio's goal condemning Spurs to their first ever home defeat at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. However, Hammers have failed to win on four visits since, including three defeats.
Moyes' men haven't had much success in the London Derby of late either, losing nine of their last 10 London Derby matches in the Premier League, including a 2-0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur in February, with the only exception in that time being a narrow 1-0 win against Fulham in April.
Tottenham Hotspur probable starting XI: Vicario; Polo, Romero, Davies, Udoji; Bissouma, Lo Celso; Johnson, Kulusevski, Gill; Sundowns
West Ham United probable starting XI: Arreola; Koufal, Zouma, Agder, Emerson; Alvarez, Ward-Prowse; Kudus, Soucek, Paqueta; Bowen
SCORE PREDICTION: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 West Ham United Considering Tottenham have scored at least three goals in each of their last five matches, and West Ham have scored in 10 of their last 11 meetings with Spurs, expect goals in Thursday night's match.
