A key battle in the Premier League's top-four race takes place in North London on Sunday afternoon as Tottenham Hotspur host local rivals West Ham United for a London derby.

The Lilywhites ran out 2-0 winners over Brighton & Hove Albion in midweek, while David Moyes oversaw one of the most famous European nights in the Hammers' history.

Match preview

Refusing to let his head drop after fluffing his lines early doors, Tottenham talisman Harry Kane wrote himself into another chapter of the history books with a record-breaking 95th Premier League away goal at the Amex Stadium on Wednesday night.

After Dejan Kulusevski's deflected effort off Cristian Romero opened the scoring on the South coast, Kane latched onto a long pass from Rodrigo Bentancur to coolly slot home past Robert Sanchez and become the most prolific away marksman in Premier League history - surpassing Wayne Rooney in the process.

One would expect the England captain to break that 100-mark pretty soon, but a return to home comforts now awaits Tottenham, whose midweek win saw them leapfrog Wolverhampton Wanderers into seventh place - three behind bitter rivals Arsenal having played a game more before the Gunners face Aston Villa on Saturday.

The Gunners' defeat to Liverpool on the same night has given Spurs that slight bit of hope in their Champions League pursuit, but Antonio Conte's inconsistent side have made a habit of winning one then losing one in recent weeks, which does not bode all that well for Sunday.

However, the Lilywhites have suddenly discovered a hot goalscoring streak under Conte - striking 13 times across their last four Premier League matches - and as memorable as West Ham's Thursday evening was, fatigue could certainly work in the hosts' favour here.

Fairytales do exist, and they are written at the London Stadium. After going down 1-0 to Sevilla in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 battle away from home, a sell-out crowd witnessed a magical European night in the English capital on Thursday.

While they also had the efforts of Alphonse Areola to thank, West Ham forced extra time on the night through Tomas Soucek's header, and a few days on from his emotional goal against Aston Villa, Ukraine's Andriy Yarmolenko was in the right place at the right time to send the Hammers into the quarter-finals in the 112th minute.

The full-time whistle sparked pandemonium at the London Stadium as they prepare for a glamour tie with French giants Lyon in the quarter-finals and David Moyes's troops have little time to recover before a crucial battle in the top flight.

Before Saturday's fixtures kick off, West Ham sit one place better off than Tottenham in sixth but are only above their North London rivals courtesy of a better goal difference, and each of the Hammers' last three games away from home in all tournaments has ended in defeat.

West Ham have come up trumps in the last two Premier League meetings with Spurs - both of which were in front of their own fans - but they lost 2-1 in North London in the EFL Cup quarter-finals back in December and will certainly not be at peak fitness after two hours of gruelling Thursday night action.

Team News

Tottenham did not pick up any fresh concerns in the win over Brighton, and Conte should therefore only have the trio of Ryan Sessegnon, Oliver Skipp and Japhet Tanganga absent again this weekend.

There is optimism over Sessegnon returning straight after the international break, but Conte has not been able to put a timeframe on Skipp and Tanganga's recoveries and has not been afraid to make his feeling towards the medical team known.

Always one to demand a lot from his first XI, Conte will likely stick with the same group of players who got the job done against Brighton, as Kane (178) seeks to move closer to fourth-placed Sergio Aguero (184) in the all-time Premier League scoring charts.

Meanwhile, West Ham remain without defensive duo Angelo Ogbonna and Vladimir Coufal following their respective operations, and Jarrod Bowen's heel problem will likely render him unavailable until after the international break.

Moyes is sure to consider some alterations despite the magnitude of the contest, with West Ham having less than 72 hours to recover after 120 minutes in Europe, as Ryan Fredericks and Arthur Masuaku provide alternative options in defence.

Yarmolenko and Nikola Vlasic should both freshen up the attack, while Kurt Zouma played on Thursday despite the RSPCA beginning the process to bring a prosecution against the centre-back - who has been left out of the France squad - for slapping and kicking his cat.

Tottenham Hotspur possible starting lineup:
Lloris; Romero, Dier, Davies; Doherty, Bentancur, Hojbjerg, Reguilon; Kulusevski, Kane, Son

West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Fabianski; Fredericks, Dawson, Zouma, Masuaku; Rice, Soucek; Yarmolenko, Vlasic, Benrahma; Antonio

We say: Tottenham Hotspur 3-1 West Ham United

While West Ham will be on a major high after making club history in Europe, fatigue, the absence of Bowen and enforced alterations will play right into Tottenham's hands in this derby.

There is no doubt that Moyes's side can still trouble this shaky Spurs backline, but with the hosts enjoying a golden streak in front of goal and seemingly having a clear identity in their XI, we are backing Conte's side to crash the West Ham party.

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