Tottenham Hotspur meet local rivals West Ham United in a London derby on Sunday afternoon in a crucial duel in the Premier League’s top-four campaign.
In midweek, the Lilywhites defeated Brighton & Hove Albion 2-0, and David Moyes oversaw one of the most legendary European nights in Hammers history.
Tottenham talisman Harry Kane refused to let his head drop after fluffing his lines early in the game, writing himself into another chapter of Premier League history with a record-breaking 95th Premier League away goal at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday night.
After Dejan Kulusevski’s deflected shot off Cristian Romero put the Seagulls ahead, Kane latched onto a long cross from Rodrigo Bentancur to coolly slot home past Robert Sanchez and surpass Wayne Rooney as the most prolific away goalscorer in Premier League history.
Tottenham Hotspur, who leapfrogged Wolverhampton Wanderers into seventh position with a midweek win, will now return to their familiar surroundings.
The Gunners’ loss to Liverpool on the same night has offered Spurs a glimmer of optimism in their Champions League bid, but Antonio Conte’s team has developed a pattern of winning one and then losing the following week, which does not bode well for Sunday.
However, under Conte, the Lilywhites have found a hot goal-scoring streak, netting 13 times in their previous four Premier League matches, and as spectacular as West Ham’s Thursday evening was, weariness could work in the hosts’ favour here.
There are fairytales, and they are written at the London Stadium. After losing 1-0 in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie away from home to Sevilla, a sell-out crowd in London witnessed a fantastic European night on Thursday.
West Ham forced extra time on the night thanks to Tomas Soucek’s header, and Andriy Yarmolenko, a few days after his emotional goal against Aston Villa, was in the right place at the right time to put the Hammers into the quarter-finals in the 112th minute.
The full-time whistle triggered chaos at the London Stadium, as they prepare for a quarter-final match against French giants Lyon.
Before Saturday’s games, West Ham are one position ahead of Tottenham in sixth place, but they are only ahead of their North London rivals due to a higher goal differential, and the Hammers have lost their previous three away games in all competitions.
West Ham have won both of their Premier League encounters with Spurs, both in front of their home fans, but they fell 2-1 in the EFL Cup quarter-finals in North London in December and will be far from match fit following two hours of hard Thursday night activity.
Tottenham did not pick up any new injuries in their win against Brighton, so Conte should only be without Ryan Sessegnon, Oliver Skipp, and Japhet Tanganga this weekend.
Sessegnon’s comeback after the international break is expected, but Conte has been unable to put a date on Skipp and Tanganga’s recoveries and has not been hesitant to express his displeasure with the medical team.
Conte, who expects a lot from his starting lineup, is expected to remain with the same lineup that beat Brighton, as Kane (178) tries to cut the gap on fourth-placed Sergio Aguero (184) in the all-time Premier League scoring records.
Meanwhile, West Ham continue to be without defence duo Angelo Ogbonna and Vladimir Coufal, who both had procedures, while Jarrod Bowen’s heel ailment will keep him out until after the international break.
Despite the importance of the match, Moyes is likely to make some changes, with West Ham having less than 72 hours to recover after 120 minutes in Europe, with Ryan Fredericks and Arthur Masuaku providing different defensive alternatives.
Both Yarmolenko and Nikola Vlasic should help the attack, while Kurt Zouma played on Thursday despite the RSPCA launching an investigation into the centre-back, who was pulled out of the France team, for slapping and kicking his cat.