This season, Ange Postecoglou wants to rewrite the “negative story” around Tottenham, with a trip to West Ham then in the Premier League.
Spurs is 16th in the competition table on 37 points and have passed a loss of three games in the league, which has again seen the printing post on Postecoglou.
The clear spark in their season, however, was the Europa League and they have included a 3-1 victory over Bodo/Glimt in the first stage of their semi-final on Thursday.
Postecoglou hopes to give a positive twist to the mindset around the club, among both fans and neutral.
“I said before, the story about the club is not at all positive,” said Postecoglou.
“Whether you follow the club or not, there are always a kind of negative connotations for everything that happens at the club, but that has been around for a long time – you have to break that.
“[Winners] Don't think about what could go wrong. They have a real clarity about what they have to do to win, and I try to create that with this group of players.
“If you expect something to go wrong, it will. So you try to find out against it, but how you do that is just a clear focus on what is important.”
A trip to Oost -London is the following
@Castrol pic.twitter.com/9oryqsftty
– Tottenham Hotspur (@spursofficial) 3 May 2025
West Ham is one point and one place under tracks in the table, with Graham Potter who is struggling to build any momentum since he came to the club.
They are without winning in their last seven games in the Premier League, which gives a 2-1 lead against Brighton, in the last minute to lose 3-2.
“We need points and victories,” said Potter. “We have done some things well, but not enough.
“It is now difficult to talk to a positive way, but we just need a forefoot performance that shows who we are.
“We know that we result in a bad time, but I think the players have been honest, disappointed and frustrated, what I think is good, and they realize that we have to stay together.”
Players to watch
West Ham – Jarrod Bowen
Jarrod Bowen's two assists in the 3-2 loss in Brighton brought him to 37 Premier League assists for West Ham, the outright most players and two free from Mark Noble (35).
He was the first player with two assists in a defeat for the Hammers since Dimitri Payet in September 2016 against Watford.
Focus runs on Sunday
– West Ham United (@westham) April 30, 2025
Tottenham – James Maddison
James Maddison has offered two assists in his last three Premier League matches, like many assists such as in his previous 20 games in the competition.
Match forecast: West Ham Win
West Ham is unbeaten in their last four Premier League matches against Spurs (W2 D2), their longest run since a series of six between 1995 and 2001.
However, because Potter's first Premier League match on January 14 is in charge of West Ham, only Southampton (14) dropped more points of winning positions than the Hammers (12), who did not succeed in winning one of the last four when they have passed (D3 L1).
Spurs won the inverted fixture with 4-1 and wants to complete the competition-double over West Ham for the first time since 2019-2020.
The side of Postecoglou has lost 19 Premier League matches this season, their joint in a season together with 1993-94 and 2003-04. They last more in a competition season in 1991-92, when they lost 20.
Tottenham has lost their last four road races, their worst path since six in a row between February and May 2019. They sent 4+ goals in their last two (2-4 vs Wolves, 1-5 vs Liverpool), last to do in three from the competition matches in October-November 1976.
Opta wins probability
West Ham – 45.2%
Drawing – 25.1%
Tottenham – 29.7%