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West Ham Host Arsenal In London Derby

The Premier League is back this weekend, following the chaos of FA Cup third round weekend. We’re starting to get into a normal rhythm now after the hectic winter period, and that can only be a good thing as we look ahead to the remainder of the season. There’s still a lot of football to be played and a lot to be determined, with all twenty sides still having something to play for with four months remaining. Some are, of course, in a better position than others, but all they can do is focus on one weekend at a time.

One game that we’re looking forward to this weekend will see West Ham United host Arsenal in a London Derby at the London Stadium, with both sides currently residing in the top half of the Premier League table. It’s always great to see sides from the capital representing on the highest level, and in 2019, it feels like more of them could have successful years than ever before. The rivalry between these two isn’t quite as fierce as it is with the likes of Millwall and Tottenham Hotspur, but in truth, it doesn’t really need to be in order to create an effective atmosphere.

West Ham started off the season pretty poorly, which came as a bit of a shock to many in the wake of their summer transfer window dealings. Now, though, Manuel Pellegrini has them playing like a legitimate top half team, and that’s no exaggeration. The Hammers are the kind of side that, when on form, are a really tough challenge for any team in this division. It may take them a few years to break back into Europe, but one thing is for sure – they’re certainly on the right track for the first time in a long time.

Arsenal have had a rollercoaster ride so far to kick off the season, but no matter which way you look at it, 95% of fans can agree on the fact that Unai Emery is the right man for the job. After guiding them to a great unbeaten run earlier on in the campaign, the Spaniard has forged a direction for the club as we look ahead to the future. The pressure is still on for them to break back into the Champions League this season, with the Premier League and the Europa League serving as their only two possible routes.

West Ham’s last six game stretch certainly supports the theory that they’re inconsistent, as they kicked things off with a 2-0 win over Fulham followed by a pretty abrupt 2-0 loss at the hands of Watford. They then edged out a 2-1 win away at Southampton, before once again dropping a game many felt they should’ve won against Burnley. An entertaining 2-2 draw against Brighton & Hove Albion soon followed, and then thankfully for them, they were able to avoid embarrassment by knocking Championship side Birmingham City out of the FA Cup last weekend.

Arsenal’s six game stretch kicked off in an incredibly disappointing way, as they were beaten 2-0 by bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup. They managed to defeat Burnley 3-1 in their next game before drawing with Brighton, but a 5-1 loss against league leaders Liverpool certainly reminded fans of how much further they’ve got to go before they can make a legitimate push for the title. Alas, time tends to heal all wounds, and that was certainly true for Arsenal as they were able to beat Fulham and Blackpool in back to back three-goal wins.

Arsenal currently lead the overall head to head standings 66-34 with 39 draws thrown in there for good measure. Their first meeting took place back in 1906, and of course, the last few decades have mainly involved Arsenal dominance with a handful of West Ham wins thrown there in between. In their last game back in August, Arsenal ran out 3-1 winners. It was an intriguing result in many ways as it kickstarted Arsenal’s fantastic unbeaten run, and the Hammers certainly won’t have forgotten about that. If anything, it’ll probably be what spurs them on even more to try and put a serious dent in Arsenal’s hopes to finish above Chelsea in the top four.

Manuel Pellegrini is waiting to see whether or not Hernandez and Arnautovic will be fit in time for this one, with there being a lot of rumours regarding the possibility of Arnautovic specifically moving to China. Reid, Lanzini, Sanchez, Yarmolenko, Fredericks, Balbuena and Wilshere are all set to miss out, as it’s no secret they’re having some difficulties with injuries. Samir Nasri will likely only start on the bench, but we all know that there’s an exceptionally good chance he’ll end up coming on – and it’ll be interesting to see what kind of reaction he receives from the Arsenal fans.

Speaking of Arsenal there’s a lot of things to be excited about regarding team selection with Mustafi, Koscielny, Bellerin, Mavropanos, Monreal and Ozil all coming back into the training ‘regime’ so to speak. Welbeck, Mkhitaryan and Holding are set to miss the game, but they should have enough options this time around to ensure that they won’t be spread too thin. Torreira is expected to replace Guendouzi which will probably be the only major change in the starting XI. Either way, though, Arsenal will feel like their squad is strong enough to get the job done against the Hammers.

West Ham vs Arsenal Betting Prediction

As we’ve already noted, West Ham are a dangerous side when they’re up for it – and it certainly feels like they’re going to be up for this one. We can see them pushing the pace in the early stages with the fans getting behind them, and we’re actually backing them to take the lead. They’ll likely take it into half time after sitting back and parking the bus until the whistle goes, and while that may seem smart, we tend to think it’s the biggest mistake they could possibly make.

They should be surging forward in search of a second goal and while this is all hypothetical, it’s the way we think it’s going to go down. Then, early on in the second half, the Gunners will net an equaliser before going on to take the lead shortly after. They’ll hold onto the advantage with relative ease, scoring a third to really kill off the game.

West Ham are good but Arsenal have some great attacking options and once they’re able to build up a little bit of momentum, they can be unbelievably dangerous. Plus, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will become the fastest Arsenal player in history to reach 25 Premier League goals if he can score.