West Ham United

Three second-half goals condemned West Ham United to a 3-0 home Premier League defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven found the net in the space of 19 minutes after the break as Thomas Frank’s side took the derby honours at London Stadium.

In the midst of Spurs’ three-goal salvo, West Ham also had Tomáš Souček sent-off for serious foul play, completing a difficult evening for head coach Graham Potter and his squad.

Kyle Walker-Peters expressed his frustration after three second-half goals condemned West Ham United to a disappointing 3-0 defeat at home to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Hammers started brightly in front of a vociferous crowd at London Stadium, with arguably the best chance of the half falling to Lucas Paquetá, who narrowly shot wide shortly after the quarter-hour mark following a neat move that was partly initiated by Walker-Peters.

Captain Jarrod Bowen had a go at goal in the very early stages of the second period, but Pape Matar Sarr’s 47th-minute header shifted the momentum in the visitors’ favour, and a Tomáš Souček red card, for a mis-timed tackle on João Palhinha, put West Ham further on the back foot.

Another header, from Lucas Bergvall, and a close-range Micky van de Ven finish put the result beyond doubt, and Walker-Peters explained that there was a sense of what might have been in the home dressing room at full-time.

“In the first half, we felt like we had a certain amount of control,” said our No2, who came through the youth ranks at Tottenham, and scored one goal in 24 senior appearances for the north Londoners between 2017 and 2020.

“We had some good chances, made good decisions, and just didn't put the ball in the back of the net. In the end, we were punished for that, and that just shows the level that we’re playing at.

“In the Premier League, you have to be ruthless when you get opportunities, because it’s hard to get those openings, and teams make you pay, like Spurs have done today.

“We need to go away and analyse the goals. It (set-pieces) is something we’ve been really working on, so we have to look at that and improve for the next game.

“We also need to make sure we dust ourselves down quickly after we concede goals, stay focused and keep ourselves in the game. We’ve got things to look at, but in the end I think today just wasn’t meant for us.”

A third defeat in four Premier League outings so far in 2025/26 pushes West Ham back down the table, to 18th at the time of writing, and Walker-Peters stressed how hard the team will work to bounce back at the first time of asking against Crystal Palace next Saturday.

On a personal note, the 28-year-old is pleased to have been picked from the start in each of the Hammers’ last three outings in all competitions, and he is hoping to play a key role in a charge up the ranks in the weeks to come.

Walker-Peters added: “It’s important not to get too high or low in football. We’re obviously very disappointed tonight, and this hurts for sure, but come Monday, we’ll get back to work and start focusing on putting things right against Crystal Palace.

“I am enjoying being here at the Club, and being in the team. The boys and the management have made it really easy for me to settle in, so that’s all been really good. Obviously now a run of results is the next thing, and hopefully I can play a part in making that happen.”

Head Coach Graham Potter said a defensive lapse to concede the opening goal ultimately set his West Ham United team on course for a 3-0 home Premier League defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday evening.

The Hammers had played well in the first half, creating chances and going close to opening the scoring through Lucas Paquetá, but were ultimately unable to break the deadlock in their favour before the break.

Then, within two minutes of the restart, Pape Matar Sarr was left unmarked from Xavi Simons’ corner and powered a header into the home net.

Tomáš Souček was then sent-off for a high tackle on João Palhinha and Spurs took advantage against ten men, closing the game out quickly through Lucas Bergvall’s header and Micky van de Ven’s low shot.

For West Ham, who fielded four summer signings, including 20-year-old El Hadji Malick Diouf and 21-year-old Mateus Fernandes, and had Crysencio Summerville making his first start since January, it was a challenging second half.

Potter felt his team had played well until falling behind, praised the performance of 21-year-old debutant Soungoutou Magassa off the substitutes’ bench, and said conceding the opening goal and going a man down so soon afterwards had ultimately changed the course of the game in Tottenham’s favour.

I’m disappointed of course with the end result in the second half because we made one mistake.

We had defended the set-pieces well and we made a mistake for the first goal.

Obviously the red card quickly in the space of five minutes changes the dynamic because they get another goal and then we're on the back foot.

For the first half, I thought it was a decent performance. There were lots of positives in the first half and that's the painful thing because the scoreline in the end is completely unpleasant for us.

But at the same time there were glimpses of positivity, I thought, especially in the first half. Like I said, the second half, the game goes away from us so quickly and that's the level and we have to learn from that. Like I said, the first half is what we have to focus on and remain positive.

I thought the front four were dangerous in the first half.

I thought they were supported well with Kyle Walker-Peters on the right, and supported well with Malik Diouf on the left.

I don't think Tottenham's chances against us created too much at all. They had pressure and set-pieces which is what we had to deal with and again I thought we dealt with them well until the start of the second half when we made a mistake.

And that's again the level, the detail, the margins and then we went 1-0 behind and quickly went down to ten men.

The game changed at that point and then it's an uncomfortable second half for us, there's no doubt.

We want to give our supporters more but, when the scoreline was what it was, it was a difficult evening for the boys.

At the moment we're just hurting because we've lost the game, I understand that completely.

We've played two games at home against the World Club champions and another team that's also in the Champions League, so there's quality against us. Nevertheless, we're disappointed because we wanted to do better, we wanted to have more points.

Mateus was good, coming back from international duty was not easy for him. It was Cry's first start and there's positives there that Malik was really good, that Soungou did well in difficult circumstances when he came on.

Kyle, I thought played well, so there were individuals that were there, but it's difficult to say that because the scoreline is what it is and we're all hurting from that.

We have to dust ourselves down.

It is what it is, we have to deal with it and then we have to move forward, but the boys are an honest group, they are, and we'll be ready.

Three goals inside the opening 19 minutes of the second half sent West Ham United to a 3-0 defeat by Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium.

The Irons started strongly and went close to taking a 14th minute lead when Kyle Walker-Peters led a break down the right. Jarrod Bowen and Mateus Fernandes combined to set-up Lucas Paquetá, who sold Pedro Porro a dummy but then placed his shot wide.

Tottenham thought they had taken the lead shortly afterwards, but Micky van der Ven was penalised for a push on Walker-Peters before Cristian Romero headed Mohammed Kudus' corner home.

The visitors grew in strength as the half wore on, but the Irons repelled their efforts to ensure they went back to the changing rooms level.

However, the north Londoners were proving dangerous from set-pieces and a corner two minutes after the break paved the way for the game's first goal as Sarr found space at the back post to nod into the net.

Tomáś Souček was then sent-off for a high tackle on Joǎo Palhinha before Lucas Bergvall's header doubled the advantage in a nightmare start to the second period.

With 63 minutes on the clock Bergvall turned provider, running into the box to lay-off to van der Ven for a measured finish.

West Ham United 0-3 Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 13 September 2025, 5.30pm BST

Three second-half goals condemned West Ham United to a 3-0 home Premier League defeat by Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

Pape Matar Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Micky van de Ven found the net in the space of 19 minutes after the break as Thomas Frank’s side took the derby honours at London Stadium.

In the midst of Spurs’ three-goal salvo, West Ham also had Tomáš Souček sent-off for serious foul play, completing a difficult evening for head coach Graham Potter and his squad.

The first half was a stop-start affair, with six goal attempts interspersed with ten free-kicks, including the one awarded for a foul by Micky van de Ven that caused Cristian Romero’s 18th-minute header to be disallowed by referee Jarred Gillett.

If not incensed, Spurs were disappointed by the Australian’s whistle for van de Ven’s push on Kyle Walker-Peters, which created space for Romero to nod Mohammed Kudus’s near-post corner past Mads Hermansen.

And the visitors were complaining again on 35 minutes when Mateus Fernandes and van de Ven wrestled in the West Ham penalty area as Kudus delivered another inswinging corner, but Gillett and VAR John Brooks both decided a foul had not been committed.

Before those two moments, West Ham had started the better, with El Hadji Malick Diouf and Crysencio Summerville – making his first start since January – repeatedly speeding down the Hammers’ left, and Walker-Peters and Jarrod Bowen doing likewise down the right.

On 14 minutes, Walker-Peters, Fernandes and Bowen combined to set up Lucas Paquetá, whose feint created space for a shot, only for the Brazilian to drag wide. Either side, delicious Diouf crosses just eluded Bowen and Fernandes.

West Ham’s threat receded, though, with Tottenham enjoying increasing spells of possession in the home half and looking dangerous from the eight corners they won in the opening 45 minutes.

From one, Maximilian Kilman blocked a Pape Matar Sarr header narrowly wide. From another, two minutes before half-time, Hermansen clawed Kudus’s initial delivery away, then produced a superb point-blank save to keep out Romero’s follow-up shot, keeping the game goalless going into the break.

Sadly, it did not remain that way for long and by the midway point of the second half Tottenham were out of sight and West Ham were down to ten men.

After Bowen had shot wide, an unmarked Sarr powered in Xavi Simons’ corner at the far post less than two minutes in.

West Ham briefly rallied, with Vicario saving from Bowen and catching Diouf’s header, and Kilman heading over, but the game was soon over.

On 55 minutes, Souček’s chest control let him down and, in his eagerness to recover, he slid and caught Palhinha high on the shin. Gillett immediately showed the Czech a red card on his 250th appearance for the Club.

Within 90 seconds, Romero picked out Lucas Bergvall and the Swede sent a header looping over Hermansen and into the net.

Then, minutes after Potter had sent on Soungoutou Magassa for his debut, teenager Bergvall squared and van de Ven swept home a third.

The remainder of the game was, predictably, played in the home half as the ten men in Claret and Blue sought to keep the score down, and Hermansen and substitute Andy Irving did their bit in added-time, both denying Kudus a goal on his return.

West Ham United: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Diouf, Fernandes (Magassa 61), Ward-Prowse (Irving 90+1), Souček, Summerville (Luis Guilherme 61), Bowen ©, Paquetá (Wilson 68)

Subs: Areola (GK), Wan-Bissaka, Igor, Potts, Füllkrug

Sent-off: Souček 55

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero ©, van de Ven (Danso 80), Spence (Udogie 71), Palhinha, Bergvall (Johnson 80), Sarr, Kudus, Simons (Richarlison 71), Tel (Odobert 79)

Subs: Kinský (GK), Davies, Bentancur, Kolo Muani

Goals: Sarr 47, Bergvall 57, van de Ven 64

Booked: Spence

Referee: Jarred Gillett

Attendance: 62,459

West Ham United v Tottenham Hotspur

Premier League, London Stadium, Saturday 13 September 2025, 5.30pm BST

Tomáš Souček makes his 250th appearance for West Ham United in Saturday’s Premier League fixture with Tottenham Hotspur at London Stadium.

The 2021 Hammer of the Year and 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League winner becomes the 54th player to reach the milestone, and just the second non-British and Irish player to do so, following his Czech compatriot Luděk Mikloško.

Souček will appear in the Premier League for the 198th time since debuting in a 3-3 home draw with Brighton & Hove Albion on 1 February 2020, three days after joining from Slavia Prague.

The 30-year-old has been a huge presence in the West Ham midfield over the previous five-and-a-half seasons, scoring 42 goals and assisting 13, while making numerous important clearances and interceptions and winning hundreds of aerial duels.

Today’s game marks Souček’s 13th career appearance against Spurs, and he will be looking to replicate the goal he scored here against our north London rivals in August 2022.

He will line up in midfield alongside Mateus Fernandes and James Ward-Prowse as head coach Graham Potter makes one change to the team which kicked-off the 3-0 win at Nottingham Forest nearly a fortnight ago.

Crysencio Summerville makes his first start since January after impressing as a substitute at Forest on his return from injury, setting up Jarrod Bowen’s opener, winning the penalty for Lucas Paquetá’s second and being part of the move for Callum Wilson’s third.

Niclas Füllkrug moves to the substitutes’ bench in the only switch from the victory in the East Midlands.

Mads Hermansen, who kept his first clean sheet for the Club at the City Ground, continues in goal.

Kyle Walker-Peters and El Hadji Malick Diouf will fill the full-back positions, with the latter looking to make it back-to-back appearances with an assist after setting up Wilson’s late goal in Nottingham. Walker-Peters has also registered an assist since arriving in the summer, crossing for Souček to score in the Carabao Cup tie at Wolverhampton Wanderers in August.

Dinos Mavropanos and Maximilian Kilman will form the centre-back partnership. Kilman enjoyed four Premier League wins over Tottenham during his time at Wolves.

Portugal U21 star Fernandes makes his home debut, having impressed in his first appearance for the Club at Nottingham Forest, while Ward-Prowse continues his record of having appeared in every game under Potter since returning from a loan spell at the City Ground in early February.

Paquetá will seek to continue his outstanding start to the 2025/26 campaign. The No10 has scored three goals in four appearances for West Ham, including one in each of the previous two Premier League games against Chelsea and Forest and one at Wolves in the Carabao Cup. The 28-year-old also found the net for Brazil in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying win over Chile during the September international window.

Captain Bowen also scored at the City Ground in our previous Premier League fixture. The England international has three goals against Spurs to his name, including one in a 2-1 victory in north London in December 2023.

The substitutes’ bench looks strong, with City Ground goalscorer Wilson and fellow centre-forward Füllkrug, who has recovered from the calf injury he suffered while on international duty with Germany, both included.

Potential debutants Soungoutou Magassa and Igor are also among the potential replacements, as are Alphonse Areola, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Freddie Potts, Andy Irving and Luis Guilherme, who has recovered from a shoulder injury.

Returnee Łukasz Fabiański will warm-up with the goalkeepers, but is not included in the matchday 20, while Ollie Scarles, Jean-Clair Todibo and Guido Rodríguez miss out after being unused substitutes at Nottingham Forest.

West Ham United: Hermansen, Walker-Peters, Mavropanos, Kilman, Diouf, Fernandes, Ward-Prowse, Souček, Summerville, Bowen ©, Paquetá

Subs: Areola (GK), Wan-Bissaka, Igor, Magassa, Potts, Irving, Luis Guilherme, Wilson, Füllkrug

Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero ©, van de Ven, Spence, Palhinha, Bergvall, Sarr, Kudus, Simons, Tel

Subs: Kinsky (GK), Danso, Udogie, Davies, Bentancur, Odobert, Richarlison, Kolo Muani

Referee: Jarred Gillett

West Ham United U18s 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur U18s

U18 Premier League South, Little Heath Training Ground, Saturday 13 September 2025, 11am BST

West Ham United U18s fell to defeat at Little Heath with Tottenham Hotspur taking their chances to claim a 5-0 victory in U18 Premier League South.

Despite matching their opponents in possession and attempts on goal, our young Hammers were on the wrong end of a harsh scoreline and slipped to consecutive league defeats.

Spurs carved out the first opening inside the opening five minutes when Armend Muslika was played in behind the Hammers’ back line, though he dragged his effort wide of Lanre Awesu’s goal.

The early exchanges developed into a physical contest with clear sights of goal at a premium.

Midway through the first half, Miracle Adewole, lively down the left with his pace and trickery, almost found a way through, only for Callum Leacock to produce a crucial last-ditch tackle to deny the Spurs winger.

The visitors did eventually make the breakthrough when they beat the offside trap, creating a three-on-one situation. Muslika was set up inside the area and finished calmly beyond Awesu.

Spurs doubled their lead on 36 minutes with a cleverly-worked free-kick. Taken quickly down the left to Adewole, he cut the ball back for Oliver Boast, who swept home a tidy first-time finish.

Just moments later, Boast added his second. Goalkeeper Blake Irow launched a long kick forward, and with numbers in attack, Spurs worked it well for Oscar Sandiford to slide in Boast, who finished clinically once again.

West Ham almost reduced the deficit before the break when Jephthah Medine’s cross skipped past Lewis Beckford and fell to Andre Dike, who couldn’t quite connect cleanly. Aaron Kamara also went close, driving through the centre before seeing his shot deflected over the bar.

Five minutes into the second half, Kamara was again at the heart of West Ham’s attacking play. Having been pushed into midfield after the introduction of Harry Montague, he surged forward and played in Dike, who was denied at the last by Elijah Upson just as he shaped to shoot one-on-one with Irow.

The young Hammers continued to search for a route back into the contest, applying consistent pressure and creating openings inside the Spurs penalty area.

With five minutes remaining, however, Muslika capitalised on a loose pass from goalkeeper Awesu to extend Tottenham’s advantage.

Lauris Coggin’s side continued to battle until the final whistle, with Chukwuemeka Obi going close late on, but in stoppage time Frankie Day added a fifth for the visitors to round off the scoring.

West Ham United U18s: Awesu, Perkins, Scanlon (Jonyla 76), Kamara, Leacock ©, Unwin (Montague HT), Dike, Morris (Peychev 76), Obi, Beckford, Medine (Kerr 59)

Sub not used: Goodger (GK)

Booked: Perkins, Kamara

Tottenham Hotspur U18s: Irow, Sandiford (Byrne 62), Thomas, Tingey, Upson, Moncur (Salter 77), Myrtaj, Feeney © (Wellspring 47), Boast (Day 62), Muslika, Adewole

Subs not used: Doran (GK)

Booked: Thomas, Feeney, Muslika

Goals: Muslika 22, 86, Boast 36, 39, Day 90+3

Coggin: We must take the next step in maturity

Despite limiting Tottenham to just five shots on target, our U18s endured the same outcome as in their previous league fixture against Leicester City.

A final scoreline which felt a harsh reflection of the balance of play, left our young Hammers once again with nothing to show for their efforts.

“We've got a really open, honest, hard-working group, and that's been clear in all the games we've played this season so far,” lead coach Lauris Coggin reflected. “The important thing for us as a collective is to take a step forward in maturity; recognising the context of games and understanding that ultimately, the quality in both boxes determines the results you get.

“We need to make that step in mentality, realising the impact that moments and context can have in any game, at any level. That’s the challenge ahead of us, but what can’t be questioned is the players’ work ethic and their attitude.”

West Ham United U18s 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur U18s

U18 Premier League South, Little Heath Training Ground, Saturday 13 September 2025, 11am BST

West Ham United U18s fell to defeat at Little Heath on Saturday, with Tottenham Hotspur taking their chances to claim victory in the U18 Premier League South.

Spurs carved out the first opening inside the opening five minutes when Armend Muslika was played in behind the Hammers’ back line, though he dragged his effort wide of Lanre Awesu’s goal.

The early exchanges developed into a physical contest with clear sights of goal at a premium.

Midway through the first half, Miracle Adewole, lively down the left with his pace and trickery, almost found a way through, only for Callum Leacock to produce a crucial last-ditch tackle to deny the Spurs winger.

The visitors did eventually make the breakthrough when they beat the offside trap, creating a three-on-one situation. Muslika was set up inside the area and finished calmly beyond Awesu.

Spurs doubled their lead on 36 minutes with a cleverly-worked free-kick. Taken quickly down the left to Adewole, he cut the ball back for Oliver Boast, who swept home a tidy first-time finish.

Just moments later, Boast added a second. Goalkeeper Blake Irow launched a long kick forward, and with numbers in attack, Spurs worked it well for Oscar Sandiford to slide in Boast, who finished clinically once again.

West Ham almost reduced the deficit before the break when Jephthah Medine’s cross skipped past Lewis Beckford and fell to Andre Dike, who couldn’t quite connect cleanly. Aaron Kamara also went close, driving through the centre before seeing his shot deflected over the bar.

Five minutes into the second half, Kamara was again at the heart of West Ham’s attacking play. Having been pushed into midfield after the introduction of Harry Montague, he surged forward and played in Dike, who was denied at the last by Elijah Upson just as he shaped to shoot one-on-one with Irow.

The young Hammers continued to search for a route back into the contest, applying consistent pressure and creating openings inside the Spurs penalty area.

With five minutes remaining, however, Muslika capitalised on a loose pass from goalkeeper Awesu to extend Tottenham’s advantage.

Lauris Coggin’s side continued to battle until the final whistle, with Chukwuemeka Obi going close late on, but in stoppage time Frankie Day added a fifth for the visitors to round off the scoring.

West Ham United U18s: Awesu, Perkins, Scanlon (Jonyla 76), Kamara, Leacock ©, Unwin (Montague HT), Dike, Morris (Peychev 76), Obi, Beckford, Medine (Kerr 59)

Sub not used: Goodger (GK)

Booked: Perkins, Kamara

Tottenham Hotspur U18s: Irow, Sandiford (Byrne 62), Thomas, Tingey, Upson, Moncur (Salter 77), Myrtaj, Feeney © (Wellspring 47), Boast (Day 62), Muslika, Adewole

Subs not used: Doran (GK)

Booked: Thomas, Feeney, Muslika

Goals: Muslika 22, 86; Boast 36, 39; Day 90+3

Formed by Hammers supporters Jack Elderton and Callum Goodall to offer their fellow fans in-depth but accessible analysis of their team and its players, Analytics United use performance analysis and data to examine how Spurs could approach their visit to London Stadium…

Despite winning the UEFA Europa League last season, a 17th-place Premier League finish wasn’t enough to keep Australian manager Ange Postecoglou in post come the summer. Instead, chairman Daniel Levy – who himself departed last week – decided to pivot and recruit Thomas Frank from Brentford. The Dane had done a brilliant job in bringing the Bees from the Championship to the Premier League before quickly stabilising in the top division, exceeding external expectations.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Frank’s tenure with Brentford was his seamless switch of style from a possession-dominant 4-3-3, that saw his side finish with an xG difference (the gap between the cumulative quality of chances made against the cumulative quality of chances conceded) almost double that of 100-point Burnley last season (35.5 compared to 18.7), to a counter-attacking 3-5-2 that got the best out of Bryan Mbeumo’s qualities on the break. This change showed an appreciation for the difference in the challenge of the Premier League, a flexibility and willingness to adapt, and an understanding of how to continue to platform his players in the best way possible through such sweeping adaptations.

In contrast to both the 4-3-3 of 2020/21 and the 3-5-2 of 2021/22, Brentford finished last season playing a 4-2-3-1 that seemingly drew inspiration from the success that Roberto De Zerbi had with Brighton. The Italian’s side had carved out a path for generating counter-attacking conditions whilst dominating the ball – a solution to questions typically asked of teams that prefer to counter-attack following positive league finishes when the opposition sit off and concede possession – finishing the 2022/23 season with the third-highest average possession in the Premier League (60.2%) whilst consistently generating direct attack conditions from which wingers like Kaoru Mitoma, Solly March and Leandro Trossard could profit. Their success was built on a build-up approach that incentivised opposition pressure before connecting quickly through the midfield and moving the ball wide where wingers could receive with open space ahead, like they would in a normal counter-attack.

Frank’s implementation of these ideas at Brentford saw goalkeeper Mark Flekken finish with far and away the most passes attempted in the league (1,498) as the centre-backs split deep and wide to draw the defensive side forward, whilst Mikkel Damsgaard exploited the consequential spaces between the lines to spin and find one of Yoane Wissa, Kevin Schade or Mbeumo in behind. Considering Spurs’ squad – which contains direct wingers like Brennan Johnson and Mohammed Kudus, a star between the lines in Xavi Simons and talented build-up full-backs in Pedro Porro, Destiny Udogie and Djed Spence – it’s clear to see how this approach could work in north London.

In order for this to happen, Kudus and Simons must hit the ground running as they replace Spurs’ two top contributors of combined goals and assists from last season in new LAFC signing Son Heung-min (16) and injured James Maddison (16). And big deadline-day loan signing Randal Kolo Muani will need to contribute better levels of consistent production than Dominic Solanke and Richarlison have managed thus far in Tottenham white. The big positive there is the Frenchman’s underlying data, which despite his lack of consistent involvement since moving to PSG from Eintracht Frankfurt two seasons ago, has continued to impress. If he can maintain his top 1% finishing from his Juventus stint last season (+0.24 npxG overperformance per 90) alongside his top 7% goalscoring rate (0.62 goals per 90) then Spurs might just be onto a winner.

One player sure to profit from the change of manager is the man who scored the winning goal in the Europa League final: Brennan Johnson. The Welsh winger has already scored twice this season after finishing last season as Spurs’ top Premier League goalscorer (11) with top 5% data for npxG (0.43 per 90) and the joint-third-best average chance quality in the division (0.19 xG/shot), level with Norwegian strikers Erling Haaland and Jørgen Strand Larsen. His pace, box movement and finishing make him perfectly suited to a more direct attacking style. Equally, full-backs Porro, Udogie and Spence should also thrive as Frank enables them to continue to contribute their high levels of progression alongside their positive ball-carrying and creative attributes. One player who will remain vitally important regardless is Cristian Romero. The Argentine centre-back missed 27 games last season and Spurs will need him to be fit this time given the impossibility of replacing a player who ranks inside the top 20% for tackles, interceptions, yards gained via pass and yards gained via carry.

If there are weaknesses to exploit, Bournemouth certainly found those in the final match before the international break. Andoni Iraola’s side pressed intensely against Spurs’ build-up and forced them away from their right side, where Romero’s brilliance in build-up and Kudus’ impressive hold-up and carrying can combine, and onto their left side where Spence and Johnson prefer to attack more directly. Maintaining clear pressure on loan single-pivot João Palhinha made it difficult for the Portuguese to switch the play, leaving Spurs unable to get out successfully, recording just one shot on target in the entire match.

If executing such an approach would’ve been challenging previously due to lack of legs in Graham Potter’s midfield, new signings Soungoutou Magassa and Mateus Fernandes will hope to address that. Fernandes ran himself into the ground in his first appearance against Nottingham Forest, recording seven recoveries, three tackles and one interception, and adding Magassa’s top 5% rates across Europe’s top five leagues for all three should enable more aggressive defensive approaches.

Whatever the case, Potter’s side can hope to exploit space behind Spurs’ full-backs on the break with Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville both available together, at last, on the flanks. Summerville was brilliant in the final exchanges at the City Ground last time out, contributing for all three goals racing into the space behind Ola Aina as the Forest right-back looked to bomb on and support attacks. With Porro certain to do the same for Spurs, the Dutch winger will be hopeful of delivering once again on the promise of ‘showtime’ on his return.

*The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of Analytics United and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of West Ham United.

West Ham United U18s v Tottenham Hotspur U18s

U18 Premier League South, Little Heath Training Ground, Saturday 13 September 2025, 11am BST

West Ham United U18s host Tottenham Hotspur in their first of two consecutive London derbies at Little Heath Training Ground this September in Premier League South.

The young Irons welcome Spurs on Saturday morning before Fulham follow them down the A12 the following weekend.

Even at youth-team level, derbies are keenly fought between local rivals, with players often knowing one another from previous battles through the age-groups.

How To Follow…

A report and post-match reaction will be available on the Club’s website and app following the final whistle.

U18 Premier League Explained…

The U18 Premier League is divided into two regionalised divisions featuring all 29 Category One academies, 15 in the southern division and 14 in the northern. There are 18 clubs from the Premier League, ten from the Championship and one from League One.

Each team faces each other home and away in their respective divisions. The two regional division champions play in a National Final for the overall U18 Premier League title. The one-off tie is held at a main stadium.

Opposition...

Tottenham Hotspur have collected four points from their opening three games in the U18 Premier League South.

Despite going down to ten men in the first half, Spurs fought back from two goals down to rescue a point against Reading in their opening game, which they followed up with a 2-0 win over Norwich City. A Benjamin Casey hat-trick in their final fixture before the international break condemned them to their first defeat against Crystal Palace.

Five of their U18s squad members have been playing up for the U21s this season. These include no less than four England U18s internationals in Malachi Hardy, Tynan Thompson, Jun’ai Byfield and Luca Williams Barnett, who scored a brace the last time Spurs visited Little Heath Training Ground.

Last Time The Two Sides Met At Little Heath…

Our young Hammers have only lost one of their last six meetings against Spurs across the previous few cohorts of U18s.

The last time the two sides met at Little Heath Training Ground, our U18s’ current top goalscorer, Andre Dike, who has four goals in four games so far this season, scored a brace to send our young Hammers on their way to their first Premier League South win of the 2024/25 season. A feat Lauris Coggin’s young charges will be hoping to repeat this time around.