Arsenal v West Ham – Arsenal to pick up all three points against West Ham at the Emirates this afternoon.
I am expecting a tough Arsenal v West Ham game today, West Ham is desperate for points and will put everything on the line this afternoon, they should certainly be in far better shape than when we beat them earlier in the season at their ground.
West Ham is a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde side right now, you never know what to expect from them but the same can be said of Arsenal.
Will we see the lacklustre Arsenal we saw against Olympiacos or the dig deep and battle to the end Arsenal we saw against Everton?
I am fairly confident we will see a much better Arsenal than what we saw get dumped out of the Europa League, that game, I am hoping, will be the wake-up call the lads needed.
West Ham will look to dominate the midfield, they will be fully aware that if they can block Arsenal’s link up and transitional play that they can then exert more pressure on the defence as well as isolating the Arsenal front line.
It is a big loss losing Lucas Torreira, this sort of game would have suited him, however, Dani Ceballos should partner Granit Xhaka and that will hopefully give some balance between tough tackling and intelligent passing that will be required to control the centre of the park.
I also expect that West Ham will target set-pieces and corners as a way of unsettling the Arsenal defence, they will be looking to expose our Achilles heel, however, I am sure that Arteta has been working with the lads on this problem area.
There will be a variety of mini battles fought out across the pitch but with Arsenal’s speed, Aubameyang and most probably Nketiah at their clinical best and some clever passing from Ceballos and Mesut Ozil I am confident that Arsenal will emerge the winners.
Predicted Score
Arsenal 3-1 West Ham
