Notebook – Spurs v West Ham (Carabao Cup)

After Sunday’s thrilling 2-2 draw with Liverpool, we face another huge game at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this evening as we host West Ham in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup (7.45pm kick-off).

Here in the Notebook, take a look at the key points of note ahead of the game…

1 - League Cup journeys so far

Entering the competition in the third round, we’ve advanced to the quarter-finals of the League Cup with victories against Premier League opposition. Defeating Wolves on penalties in September’s third round encounter - after a 2-2 draw in normal time with Tanguy Ndombele and Harry Kane on target for us, we edged the tie 3-2 on spot-kicks - we then booked our place in the final eight in October, with a narrow 1-0 win over Burnley at Turf Moor.

Also entering the competition at the third-round stage, West Ham have beaten the two Manchester clubs to reach the last eight, defeating United at Old Trafford in September before toppling City 5-3 on penalties in the last round.

2 - Harry’s Hammers home record

Harry Kane enjoys a goal against West Ham and, having opened his home league account against Liverpool on Sunday last time out, he’ll be looking to get himself on a scoring run, continuing against the Hammers this evening. He has scored 11 goals against the Irons in his career to date – only against Leicester City (17) and Everton (12) has he scored more. If selected, this will be the first time Harry has faced West Ham in a cup competition.

3 - Sonny’s soaring

Someone who has faced the Hammers in the League Cup is Heung-Min Son – and he has quite a record in the competition against them. Having taken on the east London side twice in the competition so far, Sonny has been involved in four goals (two scored, two assisted). In all competitions, he has contributed to 12 goals in just 13 appearances against West Ham (five goals, seven assists).

He’ll of course be looking to continue that run tonight, if selected, and you wouldn’t be surprised if he did,  especially considering the impressive form he has shown so far this month. In three appearances so far in December, the forward has scored in each match while he has also provided an assist in that time.

4 - Our last League Cup meeting

Both of Sonny’s League Cup goals against West Ham came in our last meeting with them in the competition. Back in October, 2018, we travelled to the London Stadium in the fourth round of the cup and came away with a 3-1 victory. Sonny put us 2-0 up in east London with strikes in the 16^th and 54^th minute before Lucas Perez pulled one back for the Hammers on 71 minutes. Four minutes later though, any thought of a Hammers comeback was ended as Fernando Llorente popped up with our third to make certain of our place in the quarter-finals.

That night, Son was making his 150^th appearance for us – he has since doubled that tally as he played his 300^th game for us on Sunday – Oliver Skipp, meanwhile, made his professional debut.

5 - Going in the book

In a London derby, the stakes are always raised. There is increased intensity and aggression from both sides and that, usually, brings about yellow and red cards. This particular fixture is no different as in the last five meetings between the two sides, there have been 24 yellow cards (Spurs 8, West Ham 16). However, not since September, 2017, has there been a red card in this fixture – Serge Aurier was dismissed for two bookable offences as we took all three points with a 3-2 win at the London Stadium.

6 - Our League Cup record against the Hammers

That October, 2018, meeting was the eighth time we have faced the Hammers in the League Cup – and it is honours even between the sides. Since we first met West Ham in the competition back in September, 1966, – our maiden appearance in the League Cup –  each side has won this tie four times. In three of the four campaigns where we have defeated West Ham, we have gone on to reach the semi-finals of the competition (1975/76, 1986/87 and 2018/19). Meanwhile, the away side has won each of our last three League Cup encounters.

7 - Conte versus Moyes

In meetings between Antonio Conte and David Moyes, it is Antonio who edges the battle, but only just. Having faced each other four times, all coming during his time in charge of Chelsea, our Italian Head Coach has come out on top twice, winning both games against Moyes’ 2016/17 Sunderland side. The other two encounters, however, have come with the Scot in charge of West Ham – Antonio drew one and lost the other, both in the 2017/18 season.

8 - Antonio’s West Ham record

While he has yet to beat Moyes’ West Ham, Antonio has previously beaten the Hammers twice, having come out on top in both of his Premier League clashes with them in the 2016/17 season. That campaign, he also faced the east London side in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, however, he did not get the result he would have wanted that night as his Chelsea side fell to a 2-1 defeat at the London Stadium.

9 - Conte in the Carabao Cup

That defeat for Antonio against the Hammers in the 2016/17 Carabao Cup was just one of two defeats he has experienced in eight outings in the competition. Having entered the cup just twice as a manager so far, the Italian has enjoyed five wins and one draw, as well as the aforementioned defeats, and just two of those ties have been played against sides outside of the Premier League. At home in the competition, he is unbeaten, having won four times and drawn once (a 0-0 draw in the first leg of a 2018 semi-final with Arsenal).

10 - Team news – COVID clear, Sessegnon out

Ahead of our Carabao Cup quarter-final, there is mixed team news for Antonio. While there has been a positive update on the COVID-19 situation with the squad clear of infection, Ryan Sessegnon, who performed so well against Liverpool on Sunday, picked up a muscular issue towards the end of that 2-2 draw, which will keep him out of the clash with West Ham