Match Preview: West Ham vs Arsenal

Saturday sees us travel across the capital to face West Ham United, as we aim to end our four-game winless streak away from home in the Premier League.

After an inconsistent start to our away form in the league this season, we couldn't have chosen a better opponent to end a mini-stretch of away-day struggles than West Ham. Our last 16 visits to the Hammers have resulted in 10 wins, five draws and just one defeat.

West Ham, currently 14th, have endured a tough start under new boss Julen Lopetegui, having already faced seven of the current top ten in the league. However, their fortunes could be turning after a surprise 2-0 win at Newcastle on Monday night.
 

Hit-or-miss Hammers

West Ham were among the biggest spenders in the Premier League during the summer transfer window, raising expectations that they would deliver this season. However, with only one win from their opening six, life under Lopetegui had not gone as planned. Recently, though, their form has improved. Wins against Newcastle, Manchester United and newly-promoted Ipswich have given the Irons' fans some optimism.

West Ham are yet to record successive wins, draws or losses in the Premier League this season, but they'll be aiming for back-to-back victories after their triumph at Newcastle on Monday.

The league is the East Londoners' sole focus this season, having missed out on European competition and been eliminated from the Carabao Cup in the third round.
 

Last Season at the London Stadium

Our last visit to the Hammers' home saw us thrash them 6-0, our joint biggest away win in the Premier League.

We were 4-0 up at half-time, thanks to goals from William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel and Leandro Trossard.

In the second half, Saka doubled his tally with a thunderous left-footed strike into the bottom right-hand corner. However, the highlight of the match came when former West Ham captain Declan Rice rifled our sixth in from long range.

This game marked the start of our three-match run of scoring five or more goals without conceding away from home in the Premier League.

What the managers say

Mikel Arteta:

On only one of the next 13 games being outside of London: "Less travelling is always better. It is crazy that we have that many games so close to us and I think that it helps because of the amount of games we have to play in that period is very high as well."

On West Ham's strengths: "Various ways to create big problems. They are a really physical side, really good in direct play, attacking second balls where they have to dominate the game through the ball. Or when they have space, they are a really dangerous team."

"The front players can create in any moment, any situation to cause you trouble. They are really well coached." 

Julen Lopetegui:

On the pressure of the Premier League: "I always put my focus on the daily work and trying to help my players become a better team. I feel well and always focused on the team and improving."

On using Monday's performance against Newcastle: "Always we want to play like that, but we have to use it. Each match is a different challenge, and we have to be ready."
 

Team News

Mikel Arteta was keen to keep his players' availability a secret ahead of Saturday's clash. He announced that "a few were unable to train yesterday," but did not disclose any names.

Defender Gabriel is a doubt for Saturday after being forced off late in our 5-1 Champions League thrashing of Sporting CP on Tuesday. Mikel told the press to "wait and see" regarding Gabriel's fitness.

West Ham star Mohammed Kudus will miss this fixture due to his five-game ban following his red card against Spurs in October.

Lopetegui announced that there are "two or three little problems we need to assess," but he is "positive that they can all be ready."

Lopetegui will be absent from the touchline on Saturday after an accumulation of yellow cards.

Statistics and Facts

Bukayo Saka has been directly involved in 28 goals in Premier League London derbies and scored twice in last season's corresponding fixture.

We have lost just two of our last 26 London derbies since the start of 2022-23, though one of those defeats came at the hands of the Hammers.

Our recent trips to East London have been outstanding, with just one defeat in 16. (W10 D5).

The Irons have lost two straight home London derbies in the league, falling 2-0 to Fulham and 3-0 to Chelsea. They last lost three in a row in December 2019. (v Spurs, v Arsenal, v Crystal Palace).

West Ham have lost more Premier League games overall (36) and at home (15) to Arsenal than to any other opponent in the competition.

Mohamed Salah (16) is the only player with more Premier League goal involvements this season than Bukayo Saka (12).

Match Officials

Anthony Taylor will referee our clash with West Ham United on Saturday evening.

It will be his second time officiating one of our matches this season, his first being our 2-2 draw with Liverpool in October.

We have only lost two of the last 16 in which he has overseen.

He has officiated only one West Ham match so far this season, which came in their 4-1 win over Ipswich last month.

On average, he shows four cards per game in the Premier League. In his 11 league matches so far, he has handed out just one red card.

Referee: Anthony Taylor

Assistants: Gary Beswick, Adam Nunn

Fourth Official: Bobby Madley

VAR: Michael Salisbury

Assistant VAR: Mark Scholes