Kurt Zouma returns from a one-match absence to captain West Ham United at Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Thursday evening.
The France international missed Sunday's 1-1 home draw with Crystal Palace after his house was burgled while he and his family were at home on Saturday. The Club has offered a £25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and successful prosecution of burglars.
Zouma will partner Moroccan Nayef Aguerd at the heart of the defence, with regular full-backs Vladimír Coufal and Emerson flanking them in a back four.
Edson Álvarez anchors the midfield on his first career appearance at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, with the Mexican being joined in the engine room by James Ward-Prowse and Tomáš Souček.
Ward-Prowse has scored five goals and assisted four more in 20 career appearances against Spurs. He netted in both games he played for Southampton against Tottenham in the Premier League last season, and previously set up two goals in a 3-2 Saints win in north London in February 2022.
Souček, who has seven goals for the Hammers this term, scored in the 1-1 home draw with Tottenham at London Stadium last season - his only goal in eight career appearances against Spurs.
Mohammed Kudus is another player who has never faced Tottenham in his career, and the Ghanaian will hope to not only score on his first appearance against Spurs but also net for the second game in succession after doing so against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
On the opposite flank, Lucas Paquetá debuted as a substitute in that 1-1 home draw with Tottenham in August 2022, but the Brazilian missed the Premier League game here in February with a shoulder injury.
Jarrod Bowen leads the line, seeking to score in his seventh consecutive Premier League away match to start the season. The England man missed the trip to Burnley through injury, but has found the net nine times in total in 2023/24. Bowen's only previous goal against Tottenham came here in a 2-1 EFL Cup fifth-round defeat in December 2021.
With Alphonse Areola absent after suffering a knock to his wrist in training, Joseph Anang is the goalkeeper on the substitutes' bench.
Of the other potential replacements, Aaron Cresswell, Angelo Ogbonna, Pablo Fornals and Saïd Benrahma have all tasted victory over Spurs in a West Ham shirt, while Divin Mubama scored against tonight's opponents in pre-season in Australia this past July.
Tottenham Hotspur: Vicario, Porro, Romero, Davies, Udogie, Højbjerg, Bissouma, Lo Celso, Johnson, Kulusevski, Son (c)
Subs: Forster (GK), Royal, Skipp, Sarr, Gil, Richarlison, Véliz, Donley, Dorrington
West Ham United: Fabiański, Coufal, Zouma ©, Aguerd, Emerson, Álvarez, Souček, Ward-Prowse, Kudus, Paquetá, Bowen
Subs: Anang (GK), Kehrer, Cresswell, Mavropanos, Ogbonna, Fornals, Benrahma, Mubama, Ings
Referee: Michael Salisbury
