West Ham vs Arsenal 03.12.2016 / England Premier
As the Premier League resumes, West Ham
and Arsenal will face each other in another fascinating London derby
after a disappointing midweek for both sides in the English League Cup
(or the EFL cup).
West Ham United are struggling to find
consistency in the league at the moment under Slaven Bilic. With only
one win in the last five Premier League outings, including losses to
Everton and Spurs, the Hammers find themselves in a relegation battle in
December. After their best ever finish in the Premier League era last
season, the current demise seems even more dramatic than it would have
looked otherwise and West Ham United have put themselves under a lot of
pressure with sub-par displays in recent weeks. Having ground out a 1-1
draw at Old Trafford last week, it looked like they had turned a corner
but it proved to be another false dawn as they crashed out of the EFL
cup after a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Man United. With only a point
standing between themselves and the relegation zone, it is time they
translated their half-decent performances into good results, especially
in front of their home fans.
For Arsenal, the defeat in midweek was
nothing but a timely wake up call after a string of poor displays in
November starting against Tottenham at home in the North London Derby,
Man United away and Paris Saint Germain at home. The Gunners not only
failed to win any of those fixtures but also ended up being well short
of their best, creating fewer opportunities than the opposition and
having fewer shots on target in all the three games. The 2-0 defeat
against Southampton in midweek was their first since the opening day
drubbing at home to Liverpool but Arsenal need to win on Saturday to
keep the pace with their title rivals in this crucial period ahead of
the New Year as the games, as they say, come thick and fast.
Team News
The key absentee for Bilic would be in
the striking department as Diafra Sakho will be out for up to 6 weeks
after a thigh injury. Full-back Aaron Cresswell was taken off
prematurely by the manager in their league cup encounter at Old Trafford
and will be assessed prior to the game, as will top scorer Mikhail
Antonio who suffered a groin strain. Mark Noble was rested in midweek
and so he is expected to reclaim his place in the middle of the park
come weekend. Andy Carroll is also believed to be in contention for a
berth in the match-day squad.
For Arsenal, besides the injuries to
Bellerin and Mertesacker, it was confirmed that midfielder Santi Cazorla
would be unavailable for up to twelve weeks with the midfielder
requiring surgery in his ankle, which must have come as a real blow.
Arsene Wenger rested nine players in the defeat to Southampton resting
the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil but it will be interesting to
see if Frenchman Olivier Giroud can make the recovery from his minor
groin injury in time to be fit for Saturday’s visit to the London
Stadium.
Interesting Numbers
- West Ham were unbeaten against Arsenal last season (W1 D1), something they had not done in a Premier League campaign since 2006/07.
- Arsenal’s last nine Premier League goals against West Ham have all been scored by different players (Laurent Koscielny, Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Mathieu Flamini, Aaron Ramsey, Olivier Giroud, Danny Welbeck, Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski).
Key Men
West Ham United – Mark Noble
As mentioned in the team news, captain
Mark Noble was rested in midweek to recuperate ahead of a big game
against London rivals Arsenal. His intelligence and experience will come
in really handy against an Arsenal side who have been poor in recent
weeks especially in the midfield – partly due to the absence of Santi
Cazorla. Noble has enjoyed a good season on a personal level, completing
the highest number of passes (512) in the squad with the highest
accuracy (90%) at West Ham and his ability to keep the ball moving
especially in the forward direction will be very crucial for the home
side to take the game to Arsenal.
Arsenal – Mesut Ozil
Mesut Ozil has had a difficult start in
the Premier League particularly when compared to the previous campaign.
The German is not creating enough clear cut opportunities, the like of
which we are used to seeing the 28-year old do, almost week in week out
for the Gunners. He’s scored 3 goals and assisted once and performed
reasonably well in the Champions League but at the moment it looks like
Alexis Sanchez is shouldering all the burden, dragging the team across
the finish line more often than not. It’s time Mesut Ozil stepped up to
the plate and relieved the Chilean of some of the responsibilities and
replicated his form from last season in the upcoming months of December
through March.
