Arsenal and West Ham United go head-to-head at the Emirates Stadium in Wednesday’s all-London Premier League showdown.
Despite Mikel Arteta’s decision to sideline captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the Gunners’ home fixture against Southampton at the weekend, the Londoners claimed an overwhelming 3-0 win.
Three different players were on the scoresheet as Arsenal snapped a run of consecutive Premier League defeats to whittle down the gap on fourth-placed West Ham to a mere two points.
Meanwhile, the Hammers have gone three consecutive league matches without defeat (W1, D2) since suffering back-to-back losses in late November, including a scoreless draw at Burnley over the weekend.
Despite their underwhelming domestic form of late, it’s worth noting that West Ham’s last two Premier League victories have come at the expense of Liverpool and Chelsea.
Arsenal vs West Ham United Head-to-Head
Arsenal outscored West Ham 2-1 in this exact fixture last season before being held to an action-packed 3-3 draw at the London Stadium in their most recent Premier League H2H back in March.
Since Unai Emery’s Gunners side went 1-0 down at the London Stadium in January 2019, Arsenal have gone unbeaten in all four top-flight meetings with the Hammers (W3, D1), scoring 2+ goals three times in the process.
The Gunners have won ten of their last 11 home league games against West Ham, with a 2-0 loss in August 2015 being the solitary exception to this run.
That very much explains Arsenal’s status as pre-match favourites.
Arsenal Preview
Since falling to a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea in their inaugural Premier League home fixture this season, Arsenal have turned the Emirates into a fortress, racking up an intimidating nine-game unbeaten run here in all competitions (W8, D1).
The Gunners have won four successive home league matches since a 1-1 draw with fellow London rivals Crystal Palace, keeping a clean sheet in the last three in a row.
They look set to maintain their eye-catching home form, as they’ve only lost one of their 22 Premier League outings at the Emirates played on Wednesday (W14, D7).
With the Emirates faithful waiting for the club’s decision on Aubameyang with bated breath, it will be up to Alexandre Lacazette to step up to the plate once again.
The French striker opened the scoring against Southampton at the weekend with a sublime finish to break a seven-game goal duck in the Premier League.
West Ham United Preview
Following a run of three consecutive Premier League away victories, West Ham have failed to win any of their last three league travels on the trot (D1, L2), drawing a blank twice in that sequence.
Although they are not enjoying the best of times, the Hammers can fall back on their solid midweek Premier League form, as they’ve gone unbeaten in their last eight such engagements (W4, D4).
Arsenal can ill-afford to write David Moyes’ side off in case they open the scoring at the Emirates, given the visitors’ unparalleled ability to recover.
West Ham have picked themselves up after conceding first to pick up two wins from their four such Premier League away games this season (L2), more turnarounds than any other side in the competition.
Moyes will have an added incentive to carry his side to victory, considering he has yet to beat Arsenal away from home in the Premier League throughout his extensive managerial career (D4, L13).
Michail Antonio may have experienced a noticeable dip in form following an impressive league start, but he will be the cornerstone of West Ham’s attack.
The Jamaican forward has played his part in 11 goals across his last 11 appearances in the Premier League London derbies, clocking up five goals and six assists.
Arsenal vs West Ham United Predicted Line-ups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Aaron Ramsdale; Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, Gabriel, Kieran Tierney; Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey; Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith Rowe; Alexandre Lacazette.
West Ham United (4-2-3-1): Lucasz Fabianski; Vladimir Coufal, Craig Dawson, Issa Diop, Artur Masuaku; Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek; Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma; Michail Antonio.
