Former Arsenal midfielder Paul Merson has now shared his prediction for how the Gunners will fare up against West Ham United this afternoon.
Arsenal will travel to the London Stadium this afternoon knowing that only a win will do if they are to keep pace with Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League title race. Arsenal have been warned that a failure to build positively on their win over the Reds last time out will have dire consequences.
However, Mikel Arteta has good reason to be wary of the threat that West Ham pose. Whilst the east London outfit are not coming into this match in good form, they have certainly had the edge of over Arsenal in head-to-head encounters between the clubs so far this season.
The Gunners have faced West Ham twice already in the current campaign. First, in November, David Moyes’ men knocked Arsenal out of the EFL Cup with a 3-1 win. Then, when the two capital city clubs met for a Premier League fixture at the Emirates Stadium in December, the Irons once again triumphed, this time by a 2-0 scoreline.
Arsenal must take lessons from these defeats, and above all they have to be clinical with the chances that they create this afternoon.
Whilst there are doubts over whether or not Gabriel Jesus will be fit to start this match, Arteta will be keen to field the strongest Arsenal starting XI he can, as he will certainly not be taking West Ham lightly.
Paul Merson makes Arsenal v West Ham prediction
Paul Merson does not expect this match to be a walk-over for the Gunners, either. He recognises that West Ham will be buoyed by their recent successes in this fixture, and they are also in desperate need of a win to halt their recent slump in form.
Speaking to Sportskeeda, Merson said, “Arsenal can’t drop any points between now and the end of the season and are coming on the back of a statement 3-1 win against Liverpool. I think they’ll win this one but this is West Ham’s cup final – they’ll be looking forward to facing their London rivals. David Moyes’ side haven’t won a Premier League game since beating Arsenal in the reverse fixture nearly a month and a half ago, which shows that they are on a terrible run of form.”
“This is where Arsenal are at the moment – they are a very good team, but they need to show their killer instinct and see off games if they are to win their first league title in over 20 years.”
Despite these concerns, Merson still tipped Arsenal for a 2-1 win.
Both Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli have been amongst the goals for Arsenal recently which is a huge boost, as the Gunners lack a prolific striker in their ranks. As such, the two young wingers carry a lot of the responsibility for firing the north London club to success. Those two will need to be at their best once again, as West Ham will surely identify them as key threats and seek to do all they can to make life difficult for them.
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