The £30m Hammers star Nayef Aguerd has admitted scary Spurs have West Ham watching horror films ahead of their derby clash.
Rivals West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur go head-to-head on Thursday night in what is always a feisty derby.
West Ham go into the match unbeaten in five while Tottenham have not won in four.
But that is not reflected in the feeling around the game with some bored West Ham fans jeering their side off after the 1-1 home draw against Palace while Spurs continue to win admirers with their all-out attacking style despite an injury crisis.
Earlier this week Hammers News warned West Ham will be in for an ugly evening if they repeated the Palace performance against Tottenham.
As galling as it is for most Hammers fans to admit, Ange Postecoglou has Tottenham playing the kind of attacking football West Ham would love to see.
It is the antithesis of what was served up under Antonio Conte and – many might argue – under David Moyes at West Ham.
West Ham beat Tottenham 3-2 in a pre-season friendly in Postecoglou’s native Australia in what was his first game in charge.
But Spurs will be a very different proposition this time around as they have shown for most of the season, even with several key men missing.
And West Ham’s players are well aware it seems.
Because £30m star Nayef Aguerd admits scary Spurs have West Ham watching horror films.
Speaking on West Ham’s official website ahead of the game, Aguerd has conceded that they have spent all week trying to work on a way of coping with new-look Tottenham.
And Moyes has had his Hammers players pore over video footage as they try to figure out a formula to combat “Ange-ball”.
“We will absolutely give our best. It will be a tough game but that’s the same with every game in the Premier League…” Aguerd said.
“We played them in pre-season but, of course, that wasn’t a complete team…
“Every match has its own scenarios. Spurs are not the same team as they were last year. Last season, they had Antonio Conte in charge, whereas now they have their new manager and they are playing in a difficult way. It’s a new philosophy and it’s the first time we will really play them with that philosophy, after the pre-season game. It’s not the same this year. I understand that it’s the same club but, for us, in a professional context, it’s a different challenge to prepare for.
“We’ve been working for a few days to prepare for this opponent and we’ve seen the videos and done the analysis. It will be, for sure, a hard game.”
Tottenham vs West Ham kicks off at 8.15pm and will be screened live on Amazon.
READ ALSO: West Ham vs Spurs
Moyes delivers major team news ahead of Tottenham clash.
Spurs missing 9 stars is not Postecoglou’s biggest problem against West Ham.
Official who was dropped over Spurs penalty controversy named ref for West Ham.
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
