West Ham United entertain bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday in what is always a fiercely contested clash.
West Ham and Tottenham had very different summers.
It was all change for the Hammers with new manager Manuel Pellegrini coming in and spending £100 million on nine players while Spurs were the only team not to sign anyone.
West Ham started the season in disastrous style losing their first four Premier League games under the Chilean but have recovered with wins over Everton and Manchester United and a draw against Chelsea in the league and a record-equalling 8-0 victory in the Carabao Cup.
Meanwhile Tottenham have suffered some indifferent form and sit fifth but are crucially Mauricio Pochettino’s side are just two points off top with just over a fifth of the season gone.
After turning the corner Pellegrini’s side put in a disappointing first half performance as they lost 1-0 at Brighton last time out.
Meanwhile Spurs dug in to win a turgid game against Cardiff City 1-0.
Since then Tottenham’s England quartet have been involved in an historic and morale-boosting win over Spain.
That may have taken a lot out of them while the majority of the West Ham side have had two weeks rest.
Pellegrini has a distinct lack of options to make changes after the Brighton defeat but he will make one change from the team that started that game.
Aaron Cresswell in for Arthur Masuaku
Masuaku keeps getting chance after chance at left-back but is always a liability. It says a lot about the dearth of quality West Ham have had in recent seasons that Masuaku has become something of a fans’ favourite.
His pace and trickery are best used as a wing back or winger but he simply does not have the defensive awareness West Ham need to be consistent.
That was made abundantly clear when he failed to execute a basic defensive discipline of moving inside to cover for his centre back allowing Glenn Murray to score the winner at Brighton.
Cresswell is more defensively minded and offers a threat from crosses and set pieces too.
Predicted West Ham line-up to face Spurs
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