West Ham United won a game away at Tottenham Hotspur for the first time in four years last season to end a run of five games without a win in north London against their inner-city rivals - and Julen Lopetegui could utilise a secret weapon in Aaron Cresswell to put the Irons into the ascendency against Ange Postecoglou's side and record back-to-back wins in N17 for the first time since 2013.
The Hammers have had a poor start to the Premier League season by their own standards, sitting 12th after seven games with only two wins to their name and a negative goal difference. Tottenham are in a similar boat with some meddling form, and both sides are in need of a win to put their seasons right - and with West Ham likely to be on the back foot, they could utilise Cresswell’s set-piece ability to harm Tottenham - who are one of the least adept sides at defending set-pieces in the entire division.
Cresswell Has a Rich Premier League History
The West Ham legend has a number of assists
Cresswell signed for West Ham back in 2014, and was a first-team regular for almost a decade - registering 283 Premier League appearances in nine seasons for the Hammers, with 30 assists and 10 goals to show for his efforts with the Irons also winning the Europa Conference League and becoming Europa League regulars towards the end of that nine-year spell.
But the arrival of Emerson Palmieri in 2022 saw his competition increase at the London Stadium, and the Liverpool-born full-back only made 11 Premier League outings, totalling 432 minutes last season, with a further three from seven games this season with all of those being substitute appearances from the bench.
This term, he has only played 25 top flight minutes to date with minutes on the pitch being even harder to come by under Lopetegui.
There is no doubting Cresswell’s quality on the ball, as seen with his 30 assists throughout his Premier League career, and that could come into play with Tottenham suffering badly from set-pieces.
Tottenham Are Incredibly Weak From Set-Pieces
There is definitely a weakness to be exploited this weekend
Postecoglou’s side saw Arsenal beat them in the air in the north London derby earlier this season with Gabriel Magalhaes rising highest to nod home in a 1-0 loss against their local rivals, and that isn’t the only time they have struggled to defend against crosses into the box in recent times against the Gunners, who scored twice from corners in the meeting prior at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Of the teams who have featured in both the 2023/24 and 2024/25 Premier League, Gabriel’s goal made it 18 goals conceded from set-pieces (excluding penalties) since the start of Postecoglou’s reign - with only Nottingham Forest, at the time, conceding more with 23.
GIVEMESPORT Key Statistic: Aaron Cresswell has three caps for England, with his most recent appearance coming in October 2017.
And, as per WhoScored, their standing in terms of goals conceded from set-piece has not changed, showing that West Ham could take advantage of the height of Tomas Soucek, Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo with some quality deliveries.
Cresswell has rarely featured this season, and he could take advantage of Tottenham’s woes to inflict damage upon Postecoglou and give themselves a huge boost in their push for a top-half place, and although Emerson is a solid option, having Cresswell in their squad comes at an advantage in situations where he could make a huge difference.