Declan Rice signed for Arsenal from West Ham in the summer.
Arsenal have made yet another bright start to the Premier League, showing some of the promise they made last season. Meanwhile, West Ham United have had to endure a rocky start to their campaign.
The Gunners opened the exit door very wide over the summer, letting go of many long-time squad members. Most notably, Granit Xhaka, a key member of their first team, was allowed to return to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. Other permanent departures include Folarin Balogun to Monaco, backup goalkeeper Matt Turner to Nottm Forest, Pablo Mari to Italian side Monza and Rob Holding to Crystal Palace.
Players who left on loan include Kieran Tierney to Real Sociedad, Nuno Tavares to Nottm Forest, and promising winger Marquinhos to FC Nantes. At the same time, Nicolas Pépé, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Sambi Lonkonga departed on free transfers, joining Trabzonspor, Olympique Lyon and Luton Town, respectively.
Regarding recruitment, the Gunners made some big-name signings, including Declan Rice from West Ham, Kai Havertz from London rivals Chelsea, Jurrien Timber from Ajax and Spanish goalkeeper David Raya on loan from Brentford.
David Moyes’ West Ham United also made some notable additions to their squad, recruiting the likes of exciting talent Mohammed Kudus from Ajax Amsterdam, Edson Alvarez also from Ajax Amsterdam, English dead-ball specialist James Ward-Prowse from relegated Southampton and Greek defender Konstantinos Mavropanos from Bundesliga side VFB Stuttgart. Departures include former club captain Declan Rice to Arsenal for a club record transfer fee, Gianluca Scamacca to Italian side Atalanta, Nikola Vlasic to Torino, Arthur Masuaku to Besiktas and Manuel Lanzini to River Plate on a free transfer.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal kicked off their Premier League campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win at home to Nottingham Forest courtesy of first-half goals from Nketiah and Saka. The Gunners proceeded on an impressive ten-game unbeaten run, recording seven wins and three draws, including big wins against Manchester United and reigning champions Manchester City and exciting 2-2 draws with Fulham, London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea, respectively.
As of the time of writing, the Gunners have won three of their last five Premier League matches, drawing one and losing one. Arsenal suffered their only season loss in a keenly contested match away at Newcastle United. Anthony Gordon got the only goal of the game in the 64th minute, albeit controversially, as the ball appeared to have gone out for a throw-in before arsenal academy graduate cum Newcastle midfielder Joe Willock retrieved the ball and put in the cross that led to the goal for his team. The Gunners snapped up the chance to immediately bounce back when they played host to the Clarets, cruising to a comfortable 3-1 despite going down to ten men in the latter stages of the match.
The Hammers had quite a bright start to their Premier League campaign, suffering just one loss in their opening five fixtures, winning three matches and drawing one. Their league season ended with a 1-1 draw against Bournemouth away at the Vitality Stadium. Next up was the West London derby, where they welcomed a Chelsea side trying to find their feet under new head coach Mauricio Pochettino; the Hammers went on to win 3-1 despite going one man down in the 67th minute. Back-to-back away wins against Brighton and Luton Town were followed by a 1-3 loss at home to Manchester City.
At the time of writing, West Ham sit ninth on the Premier League table after hitting a rough patch in their form, only managing to win a single match from their last five, losing three games consecutively. This poor run of form started after they lost 4-1 away to Aston Villa at Villa Park, followed by two narrow losses against Everton and Brentford, respectively. The Hammers returned to winning ways when they welcomed Nottingham Forest to the London Stadium, eventually coming from behind to win 3-2 in a keenly contested match.
Being a London derby, this match promises to be intriguing as both teams will be looking to get one over the other.
Regarding their head-to-head record, both teams have played 37 matches, with Arsenal coming up tops 24 times (total goals 74) and West Ham triumphing 6 times (total goals 34) with 7 draws.
Match tickets
The match at the Emirates Stadium in London kicks off on Wednesday, 28th December, at 8:15 PM UK time, and it will be shown live on TNT Sports, with coverage starting from around 7:45 PM.
It is another London derby at the magnificent 60,704-capacity stadium on Thursday night. Virtually all the derby games at the Emirates have delivered top-class entertainment this season, and this one could be another one.
Getting tickets for Arsenal vs West Ham United tickets could take time, given the standard of the game. Hence, you are advised to search ticket reselling sites should they be expectedly sold out on each club’s channels.
Team news
Line-ups
One position that has changed a few times is that of the goalkeeper at Arsenal, but Mikel Arteta has settled for David Raya as his new number-one. Declan Rice continues to be a big difference in the midfield for the Gunners, while William Saliba and Gabriel have fully settled in at the back. Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey are not expected to feature, while Jurrien Timber remains a long-term absentee.
Arsenal: Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Rice, Odegaard, Partey, Saka, Martinelli; Trossard.
West Ham have been fortunate to have a fit squad for this season’s early stages. Apart from Aaron Cresswell, a long-term absentee, Moyes has his regulars to call upon for this one.
West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Ward-Prowse, Alvarez, Soucek, Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio.
Prediction
Arsenal have looked like a team that means business whenever they’ve taken onto the field of play this season. However, David Moyes’ experience and the Hammer’s physicality might be enough to put the Gunners off their game.
Arsenal 3-2 West Ham
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