This Sunday, Arsenal will make the short trip across London to face Champions League chasing West Ham.
The Hammers are enjoying a fantastic campaign and the European dream is very much a possibility. They are in fifth place at the moment; just two points behind Chelsea in fourth and David Moyes’ side have a game in hand.
Meanwhile, Arsenal, who currently sit in 10th in the Premier League, are unbeaten in their last five matches. The Gunners will have much confidence, especially having defeated Tottenham 2-1 in the North London derby last weekend. Mikel Arteta’s side were the better team and look to have found form after a slow start to the season.
Team News
West Ham will have Jesse Lingard back available after he was ineligible to face his parent club Manchester United. Pablo Fornals is also expected to return after missing the last game. Long-term absentees Arthur Masuaku and Angelo Ogbonna will not return to the Irons defence in time.
For Arsenal, Arteta was asked in his press conference about why Bukayo Saka was substituted, he said, “it was an injury. He was feeling his hamstring.”
It remains unclear whether Saka will be play. Also, captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may return after he was left on the bench in the last game due to a ‘disciplinary issue’. The manager has now said “we talked. Everything has been resolved in a really positive way.”
Moyes’ Miracle
A win against Arsenal would take West Ham back into the Champions League places with less than ten games to go. Moyes’ side were some people’s tip for relegation before the season got under way. However, Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek have formed a formidable partnership in midfield that has been the basis to West Ham’s success.
The likes of Craig Dawson, Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell have been vital in a defence that has the remarkable stat of zero defensive errors leading to goals this season.
In attack, Lingard and Michail Antonio have been providing the goals in recent weeks. They are also a massive threat from set pieces and have scored more from corners than anyone else – this will be an area Arsenal will have to be very wary of.
Arsenal’s European Push
The North London side remain within touching distance of finishing in a European place but are going strongly in the Europe League this year, therefore, Arteta may see his best opportunity to get Europe for next season is to win the competition this year.
Youngster Emile Smith-Rowe has brought much needed attacking flair to the side in 2021, along with Martin Odegaard, signed on loan from Real Madrid. They will be Arsenal’s most creative players, not forgetting the overlaps from left-back Kieran Tierney that caused Spurs so many problems on Sunday.
West Ham will be itching to get back to winning way’s and keep their European Push alive as we head into the final 2 months of the Premier League season. The Gunners will look to put a spanner in the works and dent West Ham’s charge for Europe.
Predicted Line-Ups
West Ham – Fabianski, Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Creswell, Rice, Soucek, Fornals, Lingard, Bowen, Antonio
Arsenal – Leno, Cedric, Gabriel, Luiz, Tierney, Xhaka, Partey, Smith-Rowe, Odegaard, Aubameyang, Lacazette
