Spurs are traditionally seen as the Hammers' major rivals by supporters and a full house at the London Stadium is virtually guaranteed as a result.
Thomas Frank looking to emulate Ardiles and Sherwood
Whilst Graham Potter is under pressure to get a victory and silence the calls for his head for another week, Thomas Frank will be looking to become only the third Tottenham manager in the Premier League to win his first two top-flight away games after Ossie Ardiles in 1993/94 and Tim Sherwood in 2013/14
His defence will absolutely need to be on their guard against England international and West Ham capain, Jarrod Bowen, however, as the striker has had a hand in nine goals in his last nine appearances and continues to be the standard bearer for the east Londoners.
13 goal involvements (nine goals, four assists) since his first game under Potter has only been bettered by Liverpool's Mo Salah (15) in the same time frame.
Bowen was also on target for the Irons in the last match against the north Londoners, equalising a Wilson Odobert opener at the London Stadium - one of three games in which Spurs have remained unbeaten against West Ham in a run which stretches back to December 2023 when Bowen and James Ward-Prowse's goals cancelled out Cristian Romero's to give the Hammers a vital 2-1 away win.
No wins at home for the Hammers since March
Winning your home games at the very least has to be a pre-requisite for any top-level side, but Potter's men haven't emerged victorious at home since March 10 against Newcastle, making this fixture even more important for both manager and playing staff.
The other issue for the under-fire 50-year-old is that the Hammers have also only won consecutive Premier League matches once since David Moyes left the club.
With Tottenham having been beaten by Bournemouth in their last fixture to puncture Thomas Frank's encouraging start at the club, they'll undoubtedly take the game to the hosts too, and as was seen when Chelsea did exactly that recently, West Ham's defence crumbled.
Two things in the Hammers favour are that Spurs have only won three of their last 23 games against non-promoted sides, losing 17 and drawing three, whilst their recent record in London derbies is appaling; they've lost 10 of their last 16 (W3, D3) and only kept one clean sheet in the last 21 (against a Frank-managed Brentford).
Kudus return will guarantee fireworks
Mohammed Kudus' return to the club he left in the summer is bound to light the blue touch paper in terms of atmosphere, and home fans will understand exactly the threat that the Ghanaian will bring.
Dominic Solanke is expected to be fit along with Yves Bissouma, though the latter has fallen out of favour and may not feature.
With Randal Kolo-Muani and Xavi Simons potentially handed debuts at some point in the game too, it could be a different looking Tottenham team that take to the field.
Frank will need all of his players firing on all cylinders as the north Londoners haven't won in their last five visits to the London Stadium (D3, L2). Not since November 2019 when Jose Mourinho was in charge have Spurs come away from east London with all three points.
Pressure on Potter continues
West Ham also have recent history in this fixture against them, however, given that they've only beaten Tottenham once in their last seven matches home or away (D3, L3).
Niclas Fullkrug's injury means that Callum Wilson should get the chance to lead the line for the hosts, and apart from Luis Guilherme (shoulder), Potter doesn't have any other concerns.
Anything other than a home win really does make life awkward for the Hammers manager who, at present, has a worse win percentage (27.3%) than any other manager at the club since 2014/15.
That's including Julen Lopetegui (31.8%) - dumped from the hot-seat after 22 games, the same number as Potter before the Spurs fixture - and Sam Allardyce (30.8%).
To the West Ham board's credit, they don't appear to be worried about the backlash from supporters at this point, though Potter must understand that the pendulum needs to swing in a more positive direction quickly.
Were they to lose again on Saturday, they could be back in the bottom three by the end of this round of fixtures, whilst their opponents would cement their place in the top four.
The current difference between these two London giants therefore couldn't be more stark.
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