West Ham eyeing back-to-back victories as London derby looms.
After picking Nottingham Forest apart just before the international break, the Hammers face Spurs in this weekend’s London derby, hoping to pick up back-to-back victories. West Ham United vs. Tottenham Hotspur kicks off at 17:30 [GMT+1] on Saturday, September 13, at the London Stadium.
West Ham opened the 2025/26 campaign with back-to-back defeats [LLW] but steadied themselves with an emphatic 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest on Matchday 3. In 16th place with three points, they head into the weekend’s fixture against their capital-based rivals. The Hammers have won just one of their last seven Premier League meetings with Spurs (D3 L3), that victory coming in a 2-1 success away from home in December 2023. At the London Stadium, however, Tottenham have found wins particularly hard to come by. Each of the last three league encounters in east London has ended in a 1-1 draw, while Spurs are winless in five consecutive league visits (D3 L2) since a 3-2 win in a five-goal thriller back in November 2019. That run offers encouragement to the West Ham faithful, who will expect their side to make home advantage count in front of a fired-up crowd. However, form remains a question for the Hammers. Since David Moyes’ departure, consistency has often been elusive—the Hammers have only once managed to string together consecutive league victories, one dating back to February 2025. Graham Potter would be keen to see that unimpressive record equalled on Saturday when he deploys a 4—2—3—1 formation with Niclas Füllkrug in attack.
Tottenham, meanwhile, arrive with derby struggles of their own. The north London side have lost 10 of their last 16 London derbies in the Premier League (W3 D3), underlining a worrying lack of sharpness against fellow capital-based rivals. Defensive issues have also undermined them in these games, with Spurs keeping just one clean sheet in their last 21 league derbies. The only exception was a 2-0 win away at Brentford in February 2025. Thomas Frank will be demanding greater resilience if his team are to reverse their fortunes in these intense fixtures. Nevertheless, the Danish manager remains well aware his side has lost 17 of their last 23 Premier League matches that haven’t been against newly promoted sides (W3 D3), with two of their last four league wins against non-promoted sides coming away at the Etihad against Manchester City in November 2024 and August 2025. A 4—3—3 formation was seen in the 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth just before the break and is expected once again on Saturday. Mohammed Kudus, Richarlison and Johnson could form the attacking trio.