By looking at Tottenham and West Ham’s start to the new season, it look likes both clubs will have a very different experience. Tottenham’s start suggests that they will be among the top teams in the Premier League once again, although they will have to improve their Wembley form if they are to challenge for the title. Meanwhile, early form suggests that West Ham will be mid table or the bottom half of the table.
This weekend sees a derby match between the two clubs, and although the majority of fans may have placed a bet on Tottenham to win, West Ham should not be ruled out. The Hammers were 1-0 winners in this fixture last season.
In the history of the Premier League, Tottenham have finished above West Ham 19 times (14 times if you take out the seasons where West Ham weren’t in the Premier League). In comparison, West Ham have only finished above Spurs six times – the last time being 10 seasons ago! For a full breakdown of the positions of each season, look at the following table:
| Season | Tottenham | West Ham |
| 1992/93 | 8th | – |
| 1993/94 | 15th | 13th |
| 1994/95 | 7th | 14th |
| 1995/96 | 8th | 10th |
| 1996/97 | 10th | 14th |
| 1997/98 | 14th | 8th |
| 1998/99 | 11th | 5th |
| 1999/00 | 10th | 9th |
| 2000/01 | 12th | 15th |
| 2001/02 | 9th | 7th |
| 2002/03 | 10th | 18th (R) |
| 2003/04 | 14th | – |
| 2004/05 | 9th | – |
| 2005/06 | 5th | 9th |
| 2006/07 | 5th | 15th |
| 2007/08 | 11th | 10th |
| 2008/09 | 8th | 9th |
| 2009/10 | 4th | 17th |
| 2010/11 | 5th | 20th (R) |
| 2011/12 | 4th | – |
| 2012/13 | 5th | 10th |
| 2013/14 | 6th | 13th |
| 2014/15 | 5th | 12th |
| 2015/16 | 3rd | 7th |
| 2016/17 | 2nd | 11th |
It’s not just league positions that show us which teams has been performing better over the last couple of decades. Since the inaugural Premier League season, both clubs have been fairly careful with their spending – preferring to spend money on a bunch of players rather than blowing their budget on one player.
In recent years, it seems that Tottenham have been reinvesting the money they receiving from transfer into the squad. In most seasons this decade, Tottenham have usually ‘broke even’ in terms of transfer spend. Meanwhile, West Ham have been continuously spending money on players and not receiving much from players sold.
Despite spending habits over the past few seasons, Tottenham actually have a higher net spend than West Ham. Since 1992, Tottenham have had a net spend of around £290 million while West Ham’s net spent is £131 million.
The managers have also had a huge impact on the clubs since their arrivals. Since the arrival of Mauricio Pochettino in 2014, Tottenham have been transformed from top four challengers into title contenders. Meanwhile, West Ham have been making small improvements since Slavan Bilic took over in 2015. Under Bilic, West Ham have competed in the Europa League twice but have yet to make it to the group stage. Last season was a major step backwards compared to his first season, but fans will be hoping that Bilic can get his team playing the same way which earned the team a top 7 finish in his first season.
The teams may currently be a different ‘levels’ at the moment, this London derby is shaping up to be an exciting match.