Tottenham Hotspur could advance into the final four of the Carabao Cup with a win over West Ham United as the two Premier League sides go to battle in tonight's quarter-final clash in north London this evening.

This competition could now represent Antonio Conte's best chance at securing silverware for the trophy-barren Lilywhites, having been eliminated from the Europa Conference League this week after being forced to forfeit their postponed final group game against Stade Rennes.

At the weekend, Spurs held ten-man Liverpool to a 2-2 draw at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, so they will be buoyed by plenty of confidence heading into kick-off tonight.

The Hammers meanwhile have suffered a dip in form amid a mounting defensive injury crisis and that is something that the Italian head coach must make the most of.

As such, he should look to Lucas Moura, who took a place on the bench on Sunday, with the likes of Dele Alli and Tanguy Ndombele being preferred.

David Moyes is without two key central defenders in Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma, whilst Vladimir Coufal is suspended, with doubts lingering over full-back duo Aaron Cresswell and Ben Johnson.

Unleashing a player with the pace and dynamism of Moura could be absolutely devastating to an already weak-looking backline.

Last year, Lilywhites teammate Eric Dier dubbed the £22.5m-rated Brazilian a "nightmare" to train against. “There’s no one worse to train against than Lucas Moura. He’s a nightmare. He’s so fast, so sharp,” Dier told the Premier League's official YouTube channel.

Despite his omission at the weekend, Moura ranks as Spurs' second-best performer in the top-flight this term, having managed an average WhoScored rating of 7.12, a feat only bettered by midfield mainstay Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Furthermore, only central defender Davinson Sanchez (2.7 duels) is winning more in the air than the 5 foot 8 dynamo (2.6), though it is his squad-leading 2.8 dribbles per game that could pose a threat to the Irons - Heung-min Son is next best, managing half that figure, which is quite telling.

Moura is also averaging 1.4 shots and 1.2 key passes per league outing, so he could certainly cause plenty of damage later this evening, should Conte bring him back into the starting fold.

Moyes and co must be absolutely fearful of the Brazilian if he is named in the XI at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium tonight.

AND in other news, Talks planned: Spurs source drops major January transfer update, fans will be buzzing...