It’s a tough place to go claims Hammers boss Nuno despite Spurs’ abject home record

West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has brushed aside Tottenham’s dismal home record and insists it is “always a tough place to go”.

The Hammers visit the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday in a game pivotal to both sides for different reasons.

West Ham will make the short trip from east to north London third from bottom in the Premier League, seven points from safety. They need wins quickly if they are to reel in the likes of Nottingham Forest and Leeds, both of whom have shown an upturn in form in recent weeks. Nuno’s men have gone the opposite way having not won a league game since early November.

“There is a lot of football to be played but we have to realise that each game is very important for us. It is very, very important for us,” said Nuno, who will come up against his former club this weekend having spent a largely miserable four-month spell at Spurs in 2021.

“It was an honour and a pleasure to manage Spurs,” he added. “Things didn’t go well. It is the third game in a row where we face clubs where I have managed before [after Wolves and Nottingham Forest]. Nothing changes, it is a new game, it is a tough opponent and a tough place. We are so needed to get a good result and our focus is there to go and compete.”

Spurs are a good team, says West Ham boss

Tottenham, who will hand a debut to new signing Conor Gallagher, have one of the worst home records in the top flight this season having won just twice in front of their own fans with the pressure firmly on boss Thomas Frank. Nevertheless, Nuno is expecting a difficult afternoon. 

“They are a good team with talented players,” he said. “It is always a tough place to go and they are a rival. It is a London derby. What the fans expect is we put up a good fight and then we will see.”

West Ham will hope to have Konstantinos Mavropanos, Mateus Fernandes and Lucas Paqueta in the squad for the weekend.

“All of them are recovering with different things,” said Nuno. “Konstantinos has had a neck issue that has taken some time and is still painful. Matheus is back doing individual sessions and Lucas is still on treatment so let’s see. We still have a couple of days.”

Paqueta’s future remains up in the air having expressed a wish to return to boyhood club Flamengo and Nuno admitted the Brazil midfielder’s situation needs sorting out.

“I think it is a situation that we have to solve,” he said. “We always want our best players to be involved and Lucas is one of our best players so let’s try and solve the situation.”

West Ham’s January spending may not be over

West Ham have already spent in the region of £47million on forwards Taty Castellanos and Pablo Felipe in the current window. Asked if there were other positions he was eager to strengthen, Nuno said: “There are but let me try and keep it to myself. We are working very hard as a club to find the right ones in a very tricky transfer window to operate. We have to make good decisions and we cannot afford mistakes.

“We are working on ins and outs. I feel that we need to rebalance our squad and bring in more options to some positions and also find the best solutions for the players that are not having minutes to go and proceed their career.”

Former England internationals James Ward-Prowse and Callum Wilson have both been linked with moves away from the London Stadium in recent weeks.

Wilson is a reported target for Everton while Southampton have been mentioned as a potential destination for former Saint Ward-Prowse.