Arsenal have an opportunity to climb to the top of the Premier League table when they host West Ham, with Liverpool not in action until later in the weekend, and this is the team Mikel Arteta has selected.
West Ham will not be travelling to north London to simply surrender points. Under their new manager, Nuno Espirito Santo, the Hammers are expected to provide a stern test. The Portuguese tactician has previously faced Arsenal with a number of teams in England, and his sides have consistently been competitive in those encounters. His arrival has added structure and resilience to West Ham, making them a challenging opponent for any top-six side.
Despite Arsenal’s recent momentum, the contest is unlikely to be straightforward. Arteta’s men have recorded four wins in their last five matches, remaining unbeaten in that spell, and their confidence is high. Nevertheless, Nuno’s pragmatic approach often makes his teams difficult to break down, and the Gunners will need patience and precision to secure all three points.
West Ham’s form in the league has been less encouraging, with just one point earned from their last five fixtures. Their most recent outing ended in a draw at Everton, but before that, they had suffered three defeats in four matches. Despite these struggles, they carry a psychological advantage heading into this clash. The Hammers have won on their last two visits to the Emirates, results that could provide the mental boost required to compete against an in-form Arsenal.
For Arsenal, the stakes are clear. Victory would put them at the summit of the table, at least temporarily, and keep pressure firmly on Liverpool in the title race. For West Ham, the objective is to halt their poor run and build momentum under their new manager.
Surprise attacking lineup from Arteta. – COYG
Love his midfield selection, been hoping for that combination. Creativity, attack, very direct setup. Personally I would start an in form Martinelli over Trossard.
Trossard. Gyokeres. Saka.
Eze. Rice. Odegaard.
Calafiori. Gabriel. Saliba. Timber.
Raya.
There’s only one DM in the starting line-up
If Calafiori doesn’t invert into the DM position, we’d be prone to counter-attacks
So how many dm do u need in a team, I don’t understand some fans sometimes.
Everybody is complaining about arteta handbrake and you are are here trying to promote it
We need two DMs to protect our defenders
Eze and Odegaard won’t play DM, so Calafiori or Timber should invert into deep-midfield area when we have the ball
@Gai, we need Timber to invert I think he is better at that than Calafiori.. This is a risky selection but that’s also the beauty of Arsenal strength in depth. Imo, Arteta wants early goals I guess the coach is trying his options .And then he can bring on more DM. Odegard can help Rice when need be.
EZE and Odegard would make the attack unpredictable for the opposition. Hope it works
U know 1 of them is gonna do it, it’s the principle of Arteta’s tactics, the box shape 4 at the back.
When a LB inverts we are just as prone to counter attacks down our left side
Haven’t noticed that in the past 4 years?
Very good attacking lineup.
I will be very interested to see how the midfield performs without the ball defensively.
I am so happy to see this Midfield
Eze, Rice and Odegaard in one midfield
If they click well together then this is going to be a goals glore and a massive win
An audicious attacking midfield with one pivot. No single hand breaks.
GOONERS let’s go
Yep strongest side we can field imo. Rice at 6 Ode and Eze tow 8’s. Trossard left.
I’m more excited than nervous seeing the team sheet. Recent record in fixture is one thing, but hammers are not same side from those fixtures are they especially with absentees today. In race with Liverpool and Man City for title I ask would they drop points in this fixture. No. We shouldn’t either, but you can never account for silly sending off, bad luck, VAR mistake. If fixtures is away at Palace in present form or away at Chelsea, and other tough places, drop points for title contenders isn’t out the question. If Chelsea lose today they lose 3 on trot – so although Chelsea crap defence is weaker than for many years, I expect them to fight tooth and nail. WE could go top after first weekend of October. And with Liverpool up coming fixtures we could stay top till early January.
PS being rich I know shouldn’t really take the p out of what poor people look like, but has anyone seen the guide how to dress like a West Ham fan for Halloween? Starting with the sloth mask.
Moon Girl,
You say you shouldn’t take the P out of poor people look like, but you go and do it anyway.🤦♂️
An attacking lineup to break down the low blocks team which have cost us the league in previous seasons. We have the best squad in the league in terms of quality in depth and versality and Arteta is making great use of it so far.
Right now the injuries are making his matchday squad dilemma easier but assuming we don’t get any major injuries, Arteta will have a headache on whom to keep out on matchday.
Ben White
Cristhian Mosquera
Piero Hincapié
Myles Lewis-Skelly(U21)
Christian Nørgaard
Mikel Merino
Ethan Nwaneri(U21)
Noni Madueke Max Dowman(U21)
Kai Havertz Gabriel Jesus
Gabriel Martinelli Leandro Trossard
Remove 4 from this list(Norgaard will most likely be out)
Is it only me that is seeing similarity between Gyokeres and Martineli. I think they can both lead our attack
I don’t see ANY similarities, except the colour of their shirt🤣
Calafiori will drift into the midfield to help against counters, I expect.
I sincerely hope this lineup produces the expected result so it can become the template against the “low block” teams
I think he doesn’t drift into Midfield because Bowen is a threat on that wing for West Ham
And if we keep that wife open then 1 ball over the top and Bowen is inn
wife…. open lmao
Dyer typo lmao
So the left side will be open on counter attacks then you are saying?
It looks like that way
So far 2 attacks by West Ham and both of them from our left side
How Eze missed that tap in
He just had to hit the target and that would have been goal
I think Odegaard is off
And if it is Knee then that would be the long time on sideline
Ffs Odegaard is cursed at home, always injured in our home games.
Better balance now… unlucky for Ode
I think we were struggling to keep the control in the Midfield with 2 AMs
But as soon we started playing with double pivot we had the control of the game
It looks like Saka is also struggling
Gooooaaaaal
I think we were struggling to keep the control in the Midfield with 2 AMs
But as soon we started playing with double pivot we had the control of the game
Calafiori is having a great game.
Yes and Zubimendi made Arsenal able to make more forward passes
Saka and Trossard had difficulties to dribble past West Ham’s fullbacks though
You can say Trossard, Saka has dribbled Diouf many times
They were rarely able to reach the byline, because Wan-Bissaka and Diouf marked them very well
My gosh, Calafiori is so good today!! 😃
Hope it’s only a painful knock for odegaard, he was able to try to carry on which is a good sign. No risk taken in a match that we have enough quality to win without him.
Listening to commentary, is Gyökeres actually playing as no mention of him in second half?
He worked really hard GB and was heavily marked today.
Bring on Max Dowman now
He’s not on the bench, he’s playing for the U21 team.
That’s two games in a row now Not a great performance, wasteful, an unforgettable game, and the questions does Gyokeres have the control and good decision making for Prem football remain unanswered. More injuries too.
City fan (blue moon)? I ask because you did a post complaining about the strong line-up in the league cup when it was a full complete rotation squad. You seem to have limited Arsenal day to day knowledge whether that is Arsenals normal starting 11 this year or injuries we have at any time but a deep understanding of the buttons to try to press to create negative discussion.
That’s also two wins , zero goals conceded and top of the league