The international break is once again firmly behind us and it is fair to say that Tottenham’s England contingent will be buoyed by the part they played in their impressive win over Spain in the Nations League a few days ago.
However, the focus now shifts to Premier League action once more as Mauricio Pochettino and his men make the relatively short trip across the capital to face perennial crosstown rivals West Ham at the London Stadium.
After a relatively slow start to the campaign under Manuel Pellegrini, the Hammers have seen something of a resurgence as of late. Although that said, their mood would have been somewhat tempered in their last outing before the international hiatus.
That’s because they suffered a 1-0 defeat away to Brighton at The AMEX, a result that bought their 3 match unbeaten run to an end. However, with seven points from that trio of fixtures they have at least pulled clear of the bottom of the table.
So much so that they now find themselves in the relative comfort of 15th in the table, although they cannot afford to rest on their laurels as there is still a lot of work to be done by the East London outfit.
But regardless of where they find themselves in the table, they always manage to raise their game when it comes to the visit of Tottenham. Two seasons ago it was this very ground which saw them end the visitors hopes of winning a first ever Premier League title.
Tottenham did manage to exact some revenge for that last season as they came out on top here by three goals to two, although it was a win they had to work for late on as they finished the game with 10 men after Serge Aurier’s sending off.
For Spurs it is three straight league wins which sees them sit just two points off of the top of the Premier League table, however even after beating Cardiff in their last outing they still managed to drop a place.
That was due to Arsenal’s impressive win over Fulham, which saw them move above their arch rivals on goal difference. That’s probably the one thing that Tottenham are lacking this season, they are not really blowing teams away when winning.
At the same time though it does lend itself to the question as to what is more important, points ot performance? It may not have been pretty as of late, but Tottenham are at least grinding out wins and that arguably is the most important thing of all.
They would love nothing more to continue their momentum as of late and make it four straight league wins on the spin, especially if it means keeping touch with the quartet of teams that lie above them.
It certainly will not be easy for Tottenham to pick up all three points against West Ham, but they should have enough at their disposal to get the better of what is always a feisty London derby as they earn a hard fought away win.