After picking up a vital win against Luton Town on Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur’s attention must quickly switch to their game this evening.

West Ham United are the team that will attempt to frustrate Ange Postecoglou’s side at home, but the visitors will be confident of breaching the Hammers’ weak backline that conceded four to Newcastle at the weekend.

A victory is simply a must for the Lilywhites, but they suffered a 2-1 defeat to David Moyes’ side in the reverse fixture, and they haven’t won on the road against tonight’s opposition since 2019.

Nonetheless, the return of two individuals could just be the difference this evening as Spurs bid to secure a Champions League spot.

Brennan Johnson must return vs West Ham

At the weekend, Brennan Johnson was simply unbelievable after coming on as a second-half substitute, helping Spurs complete the comeback.

Dejan Kulusevski was the player to make way for the 22-year-old whiz, after boasting a 67% pass accuracy and two out of eight duels won.

The Welsh attacker was unstoppable on the right, instantly impacting the game via his direct approach, pace, and movement in behind.

Johnson played a huge role in both goals, producing the cross for Issa Kabore’s own goal and setting up the winner for Heung-min Son, which will have secured him a spot in the starting lineup tonight.

Spurs ace is now well and truly undroppable after 9/10 Luton display

The Spurs ace has been fantastic under Ange Postecoglou this season.

ByTom Lever Micky van de Ven has to come back into the side

Micky van de Ven’s first campaign as a Tottenham player has seen plenty of ups and downs, with a promising start being disrupted by two hamstring injuries.

The latest of those occurred in Spurs’ 4-0 win over Aston Villa at the start of March, and the Dutch defender only returned to the bench at the weekend after spending a few weeks on the sidelines.

In the absence of the 22-year-old, Postecoglou’s side have failed to keep a clean sheet, even losing 3-0 to Fulham in the process.

Radu Dragusin has been deployed in Van de Ven’s absence, but there’s no doubt that when the number 37 is fit, he slots straight into the left-centre back role alongside Cristian Romero, where he has starred this season.

Starts

18

Touches (per game)

78.2

Pass accuracy (per game)

95%

Tackles (per game)

1.7

Balls recovered (per game)

5.8

Duels won (per game)

4.4

According to Football Talent Scout Jacek Kulig, Van de Ven has been “very impressive” during his first season in the Premier League, and the statistics above provide support for that.

West Ham could opt to deploy a similar strategy to the Hatters tonight despite being at home, sitting in deep, and looking to use Lucas Paqueta’s technical class to spring counterattacks. This means that Van de Ven will have plenty of opportunities to get on the ball and control the tempo, and his security and composure in possession will be vital.

However, one aspect that will be even more important is the centre back's dynamic defending and physical dominance, which will be tested against Michail Antonio.

Furthermore, with a low block anticipated, Destiny Udogie at left-back will be handed the freedom to express himself in the final third, which may leave a void that the Hammers could look to target via Jarrod Bowen, but this threat should be suppressed to a degree with Van de Ven’s ability to defend 1v1 scenarios with ease due to his fantastic pace and recovery speed.

Overall, Van de Ven’s inclusion in the starting lineup simply has to be a must, not just because of his influence on the ball but also because of the security he brings off it with his physical attributes and supreme positioning.