England’s strong Tottenham Hotspur contingent helped England to an historic win over Spain and that could be bad news for West Ham United.
In many ways Tottenham have replaced West Ham as one of the chief suppliers of players for the Three Lions.
It is a fact not lost on Hammers or Spurs fans with Declan Rice the big hope for the East Londoners in the coming years.
Tottenham had five players in the squad for England’s games against Croatia and Spain while Rice is yet to decide his international future amidst a tug-of-war between Gareth Southgate’s side and Ireland.
Danny Rose pulled out with injury but Tottenham had four starters in the side which pulled off a brilliant history-making 3-2 win away against Spain on Monday night.
With a short trip home and plenty of time to rest up before Tottenham travel to East London to face fierce rivals West Ham on Saturday, that could spell bad news for the Hammers.
As events unfolded in Seville all four Tottenham players stepped up to the plate to play a big part in inflicting Spain’s first competitive home international defeat since June 2003 vs Greece, a run of 38 games without loss.
West Ham lost 1-0 to Brighton before the international break, a set back after a recent turnaround in their season under new boss Manuel Pellegrini.
With confidence dented the last thing the Hammers will want to see is a Tottenham team that had been struggling themselves boosted by the heroics of the nucleus of their team.
The magnitude of the win in Spain should not be underestimated.
It has been described as England’s finest non-tournament performance since the 5-1 win in Germany in 2001.
And while West Ham fans would have been grateful to the Spurs quartet on Monday night, they will be dreading facing them this weekend.
All four of the players involved against Spain – Harry Kane, Harry Winks, Kieran Trippier and Eric Dier – are likely to start against West Ham.
The Hammers will want to put on a show in front of their own fans but must first restrict the threat of Spurs while hoping the efforts against the Spanish have taken a lot out of Tottenham’s fantastic four.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
