West Ham vs Arsenal Preview:
Possible starting lineups:
West Ham:
Fabianski; Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Bowen, Lanzini, Lingard; Antonio
Arsenal:
Leno; Cedric, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney; Xhaka, Partey; Pepe, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; Lacazette
West Ham host Arsenal at London Stadium on Sunday in a very interesting city derby. The Hammers have 48 points and sit on the fifth place. They could climb to the fourth position in case of victory here. To be more precise, they could share the fourth position with Chelsea as the Blues have better goal difference. The actual form isn't at desired level, they have one win and two defeats on the last three league games. However, the defeats could somehow be "swallowed" as they came from the two top teams on the table. West Ham managed to beat Leeds United, but lost to both clubs from Manchester. Anyway, I still believe the players confidence is high. The fans are "dreaming" of Champions League footbal. It won't be easy, but with 10 rounds to go, the Hammers have a chance to be playing alongside the European elite next season. The strong home form is the key for success. At home, David Moyes' men have lost just one of their last nine in all competitions. In other words, they won six of their last seven matches. Some big names are already on the list, like Tottenham for example. There is no reason why West Ham cannot win the fourth consecutive home fixture this weekend. The last manager to guide West Ham to four consecutive home victories in the league was Glenn Roeder in 2002. Moyes have some good news ahead of this match. Jesse Lingard, who was ineligible to play against his parent club Manchester United, is now available. However, the Scot has some issues too. Pablo Fornals, Darren Randolph and Ryan Fredericks are struggling with injuries and they are rated as doubtful. Three more players are definitely sidelined - Arthur Masuaku, Angelo Ogbonna and Andriy Yarmolenko.
Arsenal are in good form at the moment, but still far away from the European spots on the table. They are sitting on the 10th place with 41 points, and a possible victory here could see them going just one place higher. The Gunners have two victories and one draw on the last three matches in the Premier League. First they beat Leicester City with 3:1 at King Power, but then dropped two points against Burnley at Turf Moor. It was a strange match in which everything was against them - Granit Xhaka made big mistake that resulted with conceded goal, plus two controversial penalty decisions from Stockley Park. I am still confused about VAR decision. Last weekend was excellent for the fans as the Gunners beat Tottenham in North London derby. Arsenal fell behind to a piece of genius from Erik Lamela in the 33rd minute, but equalized just before the halftime through the Norwegian talent Martin Odegaard. To be honest, he was lucky as his effort was deflected out of the reach of Hugo Lloris. Alexandre Lacazette secured the victory after converted a penalty in the 64th minute. Mourinho said the referee Michael Oliver "made a wrong decision" in awarding the penalty, but the fans don't care. Both Arteta and Mourinho suffered defeats in Europa League on Thursday, though the consequences were not the same. While Tottenham suffered elimination, Arsenal went to the quarter-finals where they will face Slavia Prague. By the way, Europa League is the only chance for Gunners to play in the Champions League next season. Arteta has two injury worries ahead of this match. Willian and Bukayo Saka, who missed the Thursday's clash with Olympiakos with calf and hamstring injury respectively, are rated as doubtful. Aubameyang played on Thursday, but failed to impress, so Alexandre Lacazette could lead the line here. Cedric Soares, Martin Odegaard and Thomas Partey are all expected to return to the starting eleven after being rested on Thursday.
West Ham vs Arsenal Prediction:
I expect an efficient match in London. Arsenal played Over 2.5 on two of the last three league matches. But guess what - they were derbies. The Gunners beat Tottenham with 2:1 and beat Leicester with 3:1. At the same time, Arteta's side have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last 11 matches across all competitions. West Ham are very good this season and I am sure they will also try to win three points here. The attacking approach from both managers guarantees goals.
West Ham vs Arsenal Pick: Over 2.5 goals @ 2.02 with
Pinnacle