West Ham are still in the bottom three, but they got their first win under David Moyes at the weekend with that win over Chelsea. Arsenal dropped more points when they needed a late equalizer to earn a point at Southampton and will be looking to get back in winning ways here. The Hammers are only in the bottom three on goal difference after that surprise win at the weekend.
It was a hard-earned win and built on the good performance in their 2-1 defeat at Manchester City the previous weekend. That shows a bit of improvement under David Moyes and the fact they kept a clean sheet was a highly significant moment for them, especially as it was against a top three side.
What West Ham must deliver now is consistency and not since January of this year have they won two consecutive Premier League games. December is a month they seem to enjoy though as last year they had a run of 10 points from four games. Then again, they began the month with a 5-1 home defeat by Arsenal. That December run of form saw the only time the Hammers have won two successive league games at their new home.
The next couple of months present West Ham with a big chance to get themselves out of trouble. After this game, eight of the next nine fixtures are against sides currently in the bottom eight of the Premier League including Bournemouth home and away. They can get themselves into form and hurt their relegation rivals at the same time.
This has been written a few times, but Arsenal had to rely on a late Olivier Giroud goal to get a point on Sunday. A rather uninspiring performance and one that was definitely not ‘absolutely brilliant’ saw them draw 1-1 at Southampton. That leaves the Gunners 17 points behind league leaders Manchester City and not even Arsene Wenger can convince anyone his side has no chance of winning the title this season. More importantly, they are only a point and a place outside the all-important top four.
Too often, Arsenal make a slow start and go behind. No wonder they have a record of rescuing 10 points after going behind in a Premier League game, a total only matched by Manchester City. Arsenal need to be dominating games with the kind of line-up they can put on the field, but that rarely seems to happen, particularly on their Premier League travels where they have only earned eight points from eight games compared to the 24 that Manchester City have. They need to start winning more often on their travels and including this game, their next five are all against sides in the bottom seven.
Conclusion
West Ham need to be more consistent and Arsenal just need to get better results on their travels. Just how West Ham play in this game is going to be interesting as they try to build on that win over Chelsea. Arsenal get on the score sheet on their travels but only scored more than once in their away league games this season and that’s a record they just have to improve on. A bet on both teams to score looks the one to go for.
Last Five Premier League Results – Most recent first
West Ham – WLLDL
Arsenal – DLWW
Head to Head – Last Five League Meetings
05/04/17 – Arsenal 3 West Ham 0
03/12/16 – West Ham 1 Arsenal 5
09/04/16 – West Ham 3 Arsenal 3
09/08/15 – Arsenal 0 West Ham 2
14/03/15 – Arsenal 3 West Ham 0
- Saturday’s clean sheet for West Ham ended a run of conceding in their last nine league and cup games.
- West Ham have scored in seven of their eight home league and cup games this season.
- The last six West Ham goals have all been scored by different players.
- West Ham have only kept clean sheets in two of their last six home Premier League games.
- West Ham have lost five of their last eight Premier League games
- West Ham have only once before won two consecutive home league games since moving to the London Stadium.
- Ten of the last 11 games between these two sides have seen over 2.5 goals scored in them.
- West Ham have won one of their last 19 league and cup games against Arsenal.
- Arsenal have only won two of their eight away league games this season.
- Arsenal have scored in their last five away Premier League games but only scored more than once in an away game this season.
- Arsenal have conceded 32 away goals in the Premier League this year, a figure only beaten by Stoke City, Watford and West Ham.
- Olivier Giroud has scored in three of the last four Arsenal league and cup games.