Tottenham Hotspur v West Ham United
Premier League, Sunday 20 March 2022, 4.30pm
Fresh from Thursday's superb UEFA Europa League round of 16 second-leg victory over Sevilla, West Ham United return to Premier League action on Sunday with a short trip to north London to take on Tottenham Hotspur.
The derby brings to an end a hectic period of seven matches in 22 days in three different competitions.
The Hammers head for Spurs with the two local rivals level on 48 points, albeit we have a better goal difference by three goals and they have a game in hand.
We go into the weekend knowing a win would take us above Manchester United, who do not play again until 2 April, and take us three points ahead of Spurs.
Sunday's game will kick off at 4.30pm GMT and is our final fixture before the March international break.
Ticket news
The first 90% of our allocation of 3,038 Standard Tickets sold out to Season Ticket Holders and Bondholders with 34+ Priority Points. The remaining 303 were sold via ballot to Season Ticket Holders. For Accessibility Ticket information, click here.
Tckets are on General Sale now for our upcoming home Premier League games against Everton on Sunday 3 April and Burnley on Sunday 17 April, while Season Ticket Holders and Bondholders can secure their seats for the Europa League quarter-final home leg against Lyon.
Click here to watch West Ham United in action live now!
How to follow
Sunday's 4.30pm kick-off will be broadcast live in the UK by Sky Sports and around the world by the Premier League's international broadcast partners.
For details of international coverage of the game, click here.
We will also be covering the game live with a blog and audio commentary on whufc.com and our Official App and across our social media channels, with goals, highlights and exclusive reaction to follow after the final whistle.
Team news
West Ham United will be without Jarrod Bowen (foot), Vladimír Coufal (hernia) and Angelo Ogbonna (knee). Bowen is expected back after the March international break after being injured at Liverpool on 5 March.
Coufal underwent surgery to his stomach in February, while Ogbonna is continuing his rehabilitation after having an operation to repair an anterior cruciate knee ligament in November.
David Moyes said in his pre-match press conference that his whole squad will be assessed after many played 120 minutes in Thursday's Europa League victory.
Tottenham are expected to be without central midfielder Oliver Skipp (groin), full-back Ryan Sessegnon (thigh) and defender Japhet Tanganga (knee).
The opposition – Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur's season has been a real rollercoaster.
Spurs kicked-off the 2021/22 campaign under a new head coach in Nuno, who won the August Manager of the Month award but was gone two months later after a run of five defeats in seven Premier League matches and an indifferent start in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
The Portuguese's replacement was experienced Italian Antonio Conte, winner of four Serie A titles, three with Juventus and one last season with Inter Milan, either side of a Premier League crown won with Chelsea in 2017.
Things started well under Conte, but Spurs were removed from the UEFA Europa Conference League after a COVID outbreak, then knocked out of the Carabao Cup and Emirates FA Cup by Chelsea and Middlesbrough respectively.
Tottenham's form dipped in the Premier League too, with four defeats in five as January gave way to February, but they have bounced back by winning three of their last four to put themselves right back in the race for European qualification.
Whether or not Spurs can finish in the top six will depend, you would expect, on the form of their two main forwards, Harry Kane and Son Heung-min, while two January signings from one of Conte's former clubs, Juventus, in forward Dejan Kulusevski and midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur, have also apparently given his side fresh impetus.
Previous meetings
West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur have met 51 times in the Premier League, with Spurs winning 24 to the Hammers' 17, while ten matches have been drawn.
The Irons have won each of the last two Premier League meetings, in February and October last year, 2-1 and 1-0, with both games being played at London Stadium.
However, the most recent meeting between the two clubs in any competition ended in Tottenham's favour - a 2-1 Carabao Cup fifth round win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium just before Christmas.
West Ham have twice beaten Tottenham by a three-goal margin in the Premier League – a 4-1 victory in April 1994 and a 3-0 win in October 2013 – with both victories coming away from home at Spurs' old White Hart Lane stadium.
The Irons also became the first visiting team to win at Tottenham's new ground in April 2019, when Michail Antonio (pictured, above) scored the only goal of the game.
West Ham boss David Moyes has faced Tottenham on no fewer than 33 occasions as a manager, winning nine, drawing ten and losing 14.
Match Officials
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Assistant Referees: Gary Beswick & Adam Nunn
Fourth Official: David Coote
VAR: Paul Tierney
Assistant VAR: Harry Lennard
Born in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester in October 1978, Anthony Taylor has been a member of the Select Group of Referees since 2010.
Taylor started refereeing in the Northern Premier League from 2002 to 2004 before quickly working his way up through the National League and EFL to reach the Premier League in February 2010.
He refereed the EFL Cup final between Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Wembley Stadium in 2015 – the same year he was promoted to the FIFA List.
He later took charge of the 2015 FA Community Shield, 2017 and 2020 FA Cup finals between Arsenal and Chelsea, the 2017 FA Cup final between the same two clubs, the 2018 Championship Play-Off final between Fulham and Aston Villa.
The 43-year-old refereed last season's UEFA Super Cup final between Bayern Munich and Sevilla, and has been busy again this term, officiating five UEFA Champions League games and 17 Premier League fixtures.
Taylor has refereed West Ham United on 30 previous occasions, most recently for the 1-0 Premier League win over Wolverhampton Wanderers at London Stadium at the end of February.
