West Ham welcome Arsenal to the London Stadium in a huge cross-London derby.
Victory would see West Ham improve to sixth until at least Monday evening, whereas a win would see Arsenal stay fourth and potentially extend their lead over fifth-placed Tottenham to five points if Spurs lose at home to Leicester in an early-afternoon kick-off.
Team News
Craig Dawson is suspended for West Ham after he was red carded in last weekend’s Premier League defeat at Chelsea.
Arsenal could have Bukayo Saka in contention to start after he was substituted in last weekend’s win over Manchester United with a knock to his left thigh.
Kieran Tierney (knee) and Thomas Partey (thigh) both remain absent.
Stat Attack
- West Ham have claimed only four points from their last eight meetings against Arsenal (W1, D1, L6).
- Arsenal are unbeaten in four of five previous visits to West Ham’s London Stadium (W2, D2, L1).
- West Ham have conceded three goals in each of their last two home clashes against Arsenal (D1, L1).
- David Moyes’ Hammers have kept just one clean sheet in their last five league matches at home (W3, D2), winning 1-0 against Wolves in late February.
- Bukayo Saka and Alexandre Lacazette have both scored twice from the penalty spot this season for Arsenal in the Premier League.
Prediction
Following Wolves’ defeat against Brighton on Saturday, this is now a huge chance for West Ham to take a huge step in their fight for Europa League qualification, yet David Moyes’ Hammers will have one eye on Thursday’s second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt.
West Ham though trail 2-1 in that tie after two early defensive mistakes in both halves of the first leg last Thursday, so I expect Moyes to try and eye improvement here to take some confidence moving ahead to Frankfurt but he probably would be wise to rest some key players here.
Arsenal meanwhile have definitely rediscovered their attacking intensity in their last two matches and were able to ruthlessly punish Man Utd’s awful defending, whilst they could well enter this match with a chance to tighten their grip on fourth if Tottenham slip up in mid-afternoon.
West Ham’s team selection will therefore be key because if they opt for a weakened team with full focus on preparations for Thursday’s trip to Frankfurt, I can see Arsenal getting a routine win here otherwise this could get scrappy.
Prediction: West Ham 0-2 Arsenal
Result: West Ham 1-2 Arsenal
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