🏏 Sun, 6 Sep 2026 12:00 BST
Tottenham Hotspur Women
vs
West Ham Women
Positions estimated (no formation data from the API)
Substitutes
Substitutes
Match Preview
- The 2026-27 WSL season opens with an all-London meeting in north London. Of the games already played, London City Lionesses lead the table on three points, Aston Villa and Chelsea share a point apiece after draws, and Manchester United sit on zero. Both sides here start their campaign from scratch, with a first mark on the table up for grabs.
- This fixture carries unusual significance for Japanese football. Tottenham start 20-year-old centre-back Toko Koga, while West Ham field both Riko Ueki (27) up front and Yu Endo (28) at right-back, with Nadeshiko Japan legend Saki Kumagai (35) waiting on the bench. Rarely does a single WSL match bring together this much of Japan's present and future.
- Koga arrived from Feyenoord in July 2025 and became Tottenham's youngest ever scorer at 19. The 173cm defender was schooled at JFA Academy Fukushima and started all four of Japan's matches at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Strong in the air and comfortable building from the back, she now anchors the middle of the defence against a striker she knows well from international duty.
- That striker is Riko Ueki, Nadeshiko Japan's centre-forward and a product of Nippon TV Tokyo Verdy Beleza. She scored four goals at the U-17 World Cup and five at the U-20 World Cup on the way to that title, then finished as Japan's top scorer at the 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup. At 165cm she wins little by brute force, but her movement and finishing inside the box make the duel with Koga the defining subplot.
- West Ham's right-back Yu Endo is worth watching too. She spent 15 years and 171 matches at Urawa Reds Ladies, helping them to back-to-back WE League and AFC Women's Champions League titles, and brings accurate crossing alongside dependable defending. Down that flank Spurs have Norway's Julie Blakstad (25), the left-footed wide player who moved to Manchester City for a Norwegian record fee before joining Tottenham in January 2026.
- Saki Kumagai gives West Ham a remarkable option in reserve. The 35-year-old centre-back has more than 162 caps for Japan and struck the winning penalty in the 2011 World Cup final shootout. She won 19 trophies at Olympique Lyonnais, including five Champions League titles, before spells at Bayern Munich and AS Roma — her reading of the game and leadership would settle any back line she enters.
- Tottenham's bench holds a reunion story. Striker Shekiera Martinez (25) returns against West Ham, one of her former clubs. The Germany international spent eight years at Eintracht Frankfurt and won the golden boot at the 2018 UEFA Women's U-17 Championship with nine goals; at 163cm she relies on pace and finishing accuracy rather than physical presence.
- Spurs carry real quality in midfield. Finland's Eveliina Summanen (28) holds the club's WSL assist record and signed a long-term contract in February 2026, while the number eight Gaupset arrives on the back of a 2025 season at Brann worth 15 goals and 12 assists, a league title and Norway's player of the year award. Behind them, former Chelsea midfielder Drew Spence (33), a Jamaica international, provides the balance.
- West Ham counter with international pedigree of their own. Viviane Asseyi (32) has over 60 caps for France, played for Bayern Munich and Montpellier and was named Hammer of the Year for 2024-25. Switzerland's Seraina Piubel (26) spent eight seasons at Zurich, winning four straight league titles, and started three matches at the 2023 World Cup with a goal to her name. Former Manchester United captain Katie Zelem (30) adds set-piece precision from deep.
- The defensive contrasts complete the picture. West Ham build through Laia Codina (26), the Barcelona-raised centre-back who won the 2023 World Cup with Spain, behind whom 180cm French goalkeeper Constance Picaud (28) patrols her area. Tottenham reply with Juventus-schooled left-back Amanda Nildén (28) of Sweden and Netherlands goalkeeper Lize Kop (28), with Katinka Tandberg (22), signed from Hammarby in September 2025, running in behind.