Arsenal vs West Ham United
Arsenal and West Ham United go head-to-head in an all-London Premier League match-up at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal swept Southampton aside with an overwhelming 3-0 home win at the weekend to snap a two-game losing Premier League streak. Despite breaking the deadlock in four league matches in a row, the ‘Gunners’ have ended up losing twice in the run (W2), meaning a deadlock-breaker may not influence the outcome. The hosts have suffered just one defeat in their last 22 Premier League fixtures at the Emirates played on Wednesday – European time (W14, D7) – courtesy of a 2-1 loss to Swansea in March 2016. Another successful midweek is well on the cards, as Arsenal have picked up ten victories in their last 11 top-flight meetings with West Ham at home (L1), including the last five in a row by an aggregate score of 13-3.
In the meantime, following a brace of Premier League defeats in late November, West Ham have gone unbeaten in their last three league games on the trot (W1, D2). What’s more, David Moyes’ men are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League fixtures staged in midweek (W4, D4) after a run of nine reverses from 11 such contests beforehand. By contrast, the ‘Hammers’ have gone from three consecutive Premier League away wins on the bounce to three successive league travels without winning (D1, L2), drawing a blank twice in that sequence. Moyes will have a massive incentive to lead his West Ham side to all three points here, as he’s never won a Premier League game away at Arsenal throughout his managerial career (D4, L13). That’s in line with West Ham’s recent struggle against cross-town rivals, with the ‘Irons’ managing just two wins in their last 26 encounters against the ‘Gunners’ in the competition (D5, L19).