Arsenal Match Preview

The only time that West Ham United have lost back-to-back games was at the very start of the current season and after losing away at Manchester United last weekend, they will be hoping to avoid the same fate this afternoon, as Arsenal visit Stratford for a London derby.

Despite the defeat at Old Trafford, results elsewhere a week ago meant that the Hammers remain fifth in the Premier League table ahead of facing the Gunners.

Mikel Arteta’s side have had a good week as they edged the North London derby 2-1 last Sunday, while also progressing through to the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals by beating Olympiacos 3-2 on aggregate, despite losing the second-leg 1-0 at The Emirates Stadium on Thursday night.

On the other hand, the Irons have had a full week to prepare but will be mindful of the fact that they haven’t beaten Arsenal since January 2019 when they were under the stewardship of Manuel Pellegrini, although after achieving notable results against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City, Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Leeds United already this campaign, then who knows?

The home side haven’t tasted defeat in East London since 31 January when Liverpool comprehensively romped to a 3-1 victory. David Moyes will want his side to try and keep that form going as they head into a 15-day break, due to international matches and broadcast scheduling for their next top-flight fixture against Nuno Espírito Santo’s men.

Jesse Lingard is available again after missing the encounter against his parent club last weekend, while Saïd Benrahma will hope to regain his place. Both Mark Noble and Jarrod Bowen are likely to drop back to the bench, meaning that Declan Rice is set to once again take the captaincy. Pablo Fornals missed the trip to Manchester seven days ago, due to an abductor injury and may be set for further weeks on the sidelines.

Manuel Lanzini will also be pushing for a start after impressing when appearing as a substitute against the Red Devils.

The match is a 3pm kick-off and live coverage will be screened by Sky Sports from 2:30pm. The referee is Jonathan Moss.