Arsenal vs West Ham Preview

We were out of luck with our Ollie Watkins bet at the weekend. He didn’t really get any chances in a match that Liverpool dominated. There are a few interesting matches in the Premier League this game week and the one we’ll be looking at is Arsenal vs West Ham. These two teams sit 6th and 4th respectively with Arsenal the 5/4 favs and West Ham priced up at 12/5. The draw is chalked up at 14/5 on the Exchange.

The Gunners can leapfrog The Hammers and move into the Top 4 with a win. Can Arteta’s men seize the opportunity, or will West Ham end a three game winless run away from home? Check out our big match preview and betting tip below.

Arsenal

The big story at the Emirates this week is Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. The Gabon striker failed to return on time from a trip to see his family and it was the straw that finally broke the camel’s back. Mikel Arteta took decisive action, dropping him from the squad at the weekend and also stripping him of the captaincy. It looks like the beginning of the end for Aubameyang at Arsenal but he is only a year into a three year, £250k per week contract. He is 32 now and not many clubs will be willing to pay those sort of wages to a player with his attitude problems.

Apart from Aubameyang, Arteta almost has a full squad to pick from. Leno and Kolasinac are the only absentees but they wouldn’t be in the team anyway. The Gunners are unlikely to make many changes from the team that beat Southampton 3-0 at the weekend. Maybe he’ll bring Emile Smith-Rowe back into the fold but chances are, they’ll stick to the formula that worked against The Saints.

It has been a case of two steps forward, one step back for Arsenal this season. For the most part, they have beaten the teams you’d expect them to beat (barring Everton) but they have come up short against sides near the top of the table. The Gunners lost their matches against the top three 2-0 (Chelsea), 5-0 (Man City) and 4-0 (Liverpool). West Ham are not as good as those teams but they are 4th and the table doesn’t lie. Arsenal will need to be at their very best to take all three points.

West Ham

The Hammers have started the season brilliantly. David Moyes’ men are extremely tough to beat and they were excellent when beating Chelsea 3-2 last week. At the weekend they were held to a 0-0 draw at Burnley thanks to a couple of top class saves by Nick Pope. However, they have now won just 1 of their last 5 in the Premier League and defensive injuries are mounting.

West Ham will definitely be without Ben Johnson and first choice centre-backs Ogbonna and Zouma. Ryan Fredricks is also absent and Aaron Cresswell is 50/50. Any team would struggle with so many injuries in that area of the pitch and Moyes will be hoping that Craig Dawson and Issa Diop can keep Arsenal’s attack at bay on Wednesday night.

At the other end of the pitch Moyes has no such depth problems. Michail Antonio will be the focal point of the attack and Jarrod Bowen has been in excellent form playing off the big man from the right. Benrahma will likely start on the other side with either Fornals or Lanzini in behind Antonio. Rice and Soucek are a rock solid centre midfield partnership and if they can help to protect their makeshift back four, West Ham will fancy their chances of getting a positive result.

Arsenal vs West Ham Possible Lineups

Arsenal: Ramsdale, Tierney, Gabriel, White, Tomiyasu, Xhaka, Partey, Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, Lacazette.

West Ham: Fabianski, Masuaku, Diop, Dawson, Coufal, Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma, Antonio.

Arsenal vs West Ham Betting Tip

This is a tough one to weigh up as there is very little between these two teams. The big question is what effect the removal of Aubameyang as captain will have on the rest of the Arsenal squad. They were good against Southampton after he was initially dropped and given how poorly he has been playing, they won’t miss him on the pitch. Lacazette will work much harder and Arsenal are a better all-round team when the Frenchman starts up top.

If West Ham had a fully fit back four I’d be all over them for this match at the current prices. Arsenal have come up badly short against quality outfits this season and the fact they have failed to beat any of the teams they have faced that are above them in the table says it all. Given West Ham’s defensive injury problems, a clean sheet may be beyond them but they are still more than capable of nicking a point. The draw and both teams to score is the recommended bet at odds of 18/5.

Arsenal vs West Ham Betting Tips: Draw/both teams to score @ 18/5

-DaveStevos