Relegation battling West Ham meet title chasing Arsenal at London Stadium in a huge London derby.
Victory would see West Ham climb to 14th in the table, whilst Arsenal can re-open a six-point lead over Manchester City at the summit with a win.
Team News
West Ham have no fresh injury concerns to report after their 1-1 draw at Gent in Europa Conference League, as Gianluca Scamacca (knee) remains absent.
Arsenal will welcome Eddie Nketiah back into contention following his recovery from an ankle injury.
Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mohamed Elneny (both knee) and William Saliba (back) remain ruled out.
When is Kick-Off?
West Ham host Arsenal at 2pm BST at London Stadium on Sunday 16 April, live on Sky Sports in UK.
Stat Attack
- West Ham are winless in their last seven meetings against Arsenal (D1, L6).
- Arsenal are unbeaten in five of their last six visits to West Ham (W3, D2, L1).
- Mikel Arteta’s Gunners have kept just one clean sheet in their last five meetings against West Ham, winning 2-0 at home in December 2021.
- West Ham’s last four league goals have been scored in the first half.
- Gabriel Martinelli has scored in each of Arsenal’s last four matches on the road (W3, D1).
Prediction
With results elsewhere this weekend having already swung fairly towards West Ham in terms of their survival chances, the Hammers now have to take advantage if want to put daylight between them and the drop given that a win would move them six points clear.
David Moyes though should be worried about how comfortably his Hammers were outclassed by Gent on Thursday evening, yet it feels like a nice preparatory match for this game because I do expect Arsenal to dominate meaning that West Ham might need to play on the counter-attack clinically.
Mikel Arteta’s Gunners though will be eager to deliver a reaction to last weekend’s disappointing draw at Liverpool in which they were punished for wasteful finishing, despite having held a two-goal first-half lead but a loss of focus cost them the win amidst fantastic saves from Aaron Ramsdale.
In fact, I am struggling to see West Ham winning here although it will be a case of trying to minimise their losing margin, whilst producing a positive performance to take into their home leg against Gent on Thursday evening as Arsenal will be too strong.
Prediction: West Ham 1-3 Arsenal
Result: West Ham 2-2 Arsenal
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