West Ham vs Arsenal Predictions and Betting Tips
The Gunners would be keen on strengthening their grip on the top four as they take on London rivals West ham at the London Stadium on Sunday. Read on for our expert tips and predictions.
Arsenal's 2-0 victory against West ham last December means the Gunners head into this game without a loss in this fixture since 2019. Would the hammers break this five-game jinx this weekend ?
Highly-anticipated encounter on the cards
The London Stadium hosted yet another high-calibre European game as the Hammers locked horns with Frankfurt in the Europa League semifinal first leg. It didn't get off to the best possible start for the home fans as they saw their side go down with less than two minutes on the clock. Michail Antonio did cancel Frankfurt's opener just before the halftime break but the Germans, via Daichi Kamada, made sure that they would head back home with a slight advantage. This 2-1 reverse stretched their unbeaten run in all competitions to three games with the Hammers losing to Chelsea and sharing the spoils with Burnley in their last two league games. These dropped points had caused them to lose sight of the top four but with the Europa League being a legitimate route to the Champions League next season, the Hammers are expected to go hard in the second leg next Thursday but first off, they would be looking to, at least, build up some confidence with a positive result against a resurgent Arsenal side.
The last 10 days have been astounding for Mikel Arteta and everyone associated with Arsenal football club with respect to the race for Champions League. Following what was an unexpected collapse at the beginning of the month, it looked like the Gunners had lost sight of the top four, however, wins against Chelsea and then Manchester United coupled with two Spurs slip-ups have put Arsenal back in the driving seat. As of now, the Gunners are in 4th place and two points adrift of North London rivals who are just a spot below. Conte's troops would be in action before the game at the London Stadium so there's a possibility that they would have leapfrogged Arsenal into the top four. However, the Gunners head into this game in supreme form and as such, they would take some stopping.
West Ham vs Aresnal Team News
West Ham possible starting XI:
Fabianski; Coufal, Johnson, Zouma, Cresswell; Rice, Soucek; Yarmolenko, Vlasic, Benrahma; Antonio
Arsenal possible starting XI:
Ramsdale; Cedric, White, Gabriel, Tavares; Xhaka, Elneny; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Nketiah
West Ham vs Arsenal Prediction: 1-2
Those two wins would've done a world of good for Arsenal and with West Ham's eyes firmly on the return leg of their Europa League semifinals, we're backing the Gunners to make it three on the spin this weekend.
