Arsenal travel across London to face West Ham in a critical match for both sides. The Gunners are three wins away from their first Premier League title in more than two decades. The Hammers slipped a point behind Tottenham last weekend and into the final relegation spot — they’re fighting for a place in the Premier League next season.
Of Arsenal’s three remaining matches, this is the trickiest one on paper. West Ham are desperate and will be looking to claim all three points. A draw, while helpful,
might not be helpful enough. The Hammers needing to win today probably helps the Gunners a little bit. You fancy Arsenal’s chances more against a more open West Ham side than against one looking to muck it up for a draw.
Not that either should be an impediment. The Premier League title is so close. It’s time for Arsenal to dig deep, as they’ve done countless times under Mikel Arteta, and find a way to get it done. Three wins between them and the PL glory that has been agonizingly close for the last few years (and four wins between them and a season that will go down in club history).
Nuno Espirito Santo has done a tremendous job in the back half of the season, taking West Ham from what looked like certain relegation to a neck-and-neck battle with Tottenham for safety. His side are unbeaten in six straight home matches, tied for their longest run since moving to the London Stadium in 2012.
The Hammers have taken points off the Gunners at times in the last few years. Those matches rank pretty highly on the “helped cost Arsenal the league” scale of results in those seasons. They beat Arsenal at the Emirates last season and three seasons ago. Oddly enough, West Ham have struggled at home against Arsenal, stumbling to a 1-5-11 record in the last 17 league contests on their ground. The Hammers usually find a way to score, though. Arsenal have only kept two clean sheets in their last 13 PL away games against West Ham. Jarrod Bowen has often been a part of that, the England attacker has scored in five straight seasons against the Gunners. He didn’t score in the match at the Emirates in the fall, 2-0 to Arsenal.
Declan Rice scored the opener against his former club in October and Bukayo Saka added a second from the penalty spot. The Arsenal winger, who looks rejuvenated since missing several matches to heal from a nagging injury, has racked up 5G, 4A in his last eight against West Ham, including 4G and 2A in his last three.
Look for Saka to potentially add to that assist total from corners today. West Ham have conceded 15 goals from corners this season, the most in the Premier League. Arsenal’s set piece goals have dried up a bit lately, perhaps in part because Saka hasn’t been available to fizz the ball in from the right side, but they’ve still scored the most in the PL from corners (17).
Arsenal are without Mikel Merino and Jurrien Timber, neither of whom sound imminently close to returning. At this point, the Champions League final might be both of their best chances of returning to the matchday squad. They might also both be done for the season. Former Arsenal goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski is out for the Hammers with a back problem.
Arsenal – Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Eze, Trossard, Saka, Gyokeres
West Ham – Hermansen, Wan-Bissaka, Disasi, Todibo, Mavropanos, Diouf, Souchek, Fernandes, Bowen, Summerville, Castellanos
WHO: Arsenal at West Ham United
WHAT: Premier League MD36
WHEN: Sunday, May 10th, 8:30am PT | 11:30am ET | 4:30pm GMT
WHERE: London Stadium
HOW TO WATCH: Broadcast on USA
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