Opposition watch | West Ham

Our old rivals from east London provide the opposition as we kick-start a home double-header in the Premier League with a derby against West Ham at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Thursday evening (8.15pm UK) with Newcastle to follow on Sunday (4.30pm UK). Here's a closer look at the Hammers...

Form

West Ham are on a five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League and Europa League, their last loss at Brentford on 4 November, just after they knocked Arsenal out of the League Cup. They left it late to beat Burnley last time on the road in the Premier League, but were held 1-1 back at home by Palace at the weekend. Winners of the Europa Conference League last season, West Ham have already progressed to the knockout stage of the Europa League and face a shoot-out for top spot in their group against German side SC Frieburg next week.

Players to watch

Ghana international forward Mohammed Kudus has made quite an impact with six goals in 17 appearances after joining from Ajax in August. Strong, with trick up his sleeve, Kudus won two titles at Ajax. James Ward-Prowse remains deadly as ever from set pieces and has two goals and five assists to his name for the Hammers in the Premier League after his summer switch from Southampton. Jarrod Bowen is back from injury and in form - eight goals in 13 Premier League matches so far this term, already two more than he scored in 38 last season, earned a recall to the England squad in October. The same could be said of midfielder Tomas Soucek - three goals in 50 games last season, seven goals in 20 already this time around.

Manager - David Moyes

Glasgow-born Moyes was a defender in a playing career spanning 18 years and spells at Celtic, where he started back in 1980, Cambridge United, Bristol City, Shrewsbury, Dunfermline, Hamilton Academical and most notably Preston, who he played for between 1993-1998 before taking over as manager. He moved to Everton in 2002 and in 11 full seasons, achieved five top-six finishes before succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in 2013. Things didn't work out at Old Trafford and after spells at Real Sociedad and Sunderland, he joined West Ham in 2017. Initially steering the team away from trouble, Moyes led the Hammers to sixth in 2020/21 and then to the semi-finals of the Europa League in 2021/22. They were back in Europe in 2022/23 after finishing seventh in 21/22 and this time went all the way in the Europa Conference League, beating Fiorentina 2-1 in the final - West Ham's first major trophy win in 43 years.

Last time we met

Goals from Emerson Royal and Heung-Min Son in the second half secured a 2-0 victory against the Hammers in February, a much-needed victory after successive losses against Leicester City and AC Milan in the Champions League. Royal slotted home after Ben Davies latched onto Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's pass before Harry Kane released Son to finish one-on-one past Lucasz Fabianski.

How to follow

Thursday evening's derby will be televised live by Amazon Prime Video. Radio coverage is via BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra. You can also listen to BBC Radio London's commentary via our Match Centre here on tottenhamhotspur.com and the Spurs Official app, where you’ll also find minute-by-minute text, goal alerts, stats and much more. Video highlights will be available on SPURSPLAY, with the full 90 minutes available to watch on demand from midnight. Also, look out for our Review Show with post-match reaction and analysis from presenter Ben Haines and pundit, legendary former striker Clive Allen, on SPURSPLAY and YouTube. Worldwide broadcast listings are available via the link on this page...