Andy Carroll Is the West Ham Player Arsenal Will Fear Most This Weekend

A trip to West Ham United ought not be a particularly daunting prospect for Arsenal. The Gunners are in good form in the Premier League, whereas their hosts sit just a point clear of the relegation zone. A switch to a new stadium has come with significant teething problems, and the Hammers are a shadow of the side they were under Slaven Bilic last season.

However, the presence of one player in the West Ham squad will be enough to give Arsene Wenger and his players nightmares. If Andy Carroll is passed fit, West Ham have a chance. 

That’s not a certainty. Carroll was expected to be named in the squad for their EFL Cup quarter-final tie with Manchester United on Wednesday but didn’t make the cut. Nevertheless, per the club’s official website, on the eve of the United game, Bilic suggested Carroll would “definitely” be ready to face Arsenal: 

"

We are going to see what happens today. Andy has a good recovery and has been training with us. If he progresses well and there are not any minor setbacks, he will definitely be ready for Saturday and we will make a decision about the United game after training.

We will assess him after training to see how he is. With Andy we take it on a daily basis.

"

Perhaps Bilic decided that he’d rather spare Carroll and avoid the risk of a setback at Old Trafford. After all, West Ham need Premier League points far more than a two-legged EFL Cup semi-final. Ordinarily, it would be unthinkable to throw a player straight into the starting lineup after a prolonged absence. However, West Ham are struggling for goals—and Carroll seems to have a particular potency against Arsenal. 

The most recent example of that occurred in April earlier this year. Carroll effectively extinguished Arsenal’s slim title hopes with a devastating hat-trick, which enabled West Ham to clinch a 3-3 draw despite going 2-0 down.

IAN KINGTON/Getty Images

Arsenal simply couldn’t live with Carroll’s aerial power. It seems one of the crucial factors in his success was the element of surprise—somewhat naively, Wenger simply did not expect Carroll to play.

Speaking after the match, the shellshocked Arsenal manager said, per Arsenal's official website: "No, I didn’t expect him [Carroll] to start at all. He has not played in the last five or six games. We played with a weakness that is redundant in the season. If you look at the goals we have conceded since the start of the season, [most of them] are headers in our box. That happened today."

The fact Arsenal did not anticipate facing Carroll was evident in Wenger’s team selection. He chose to leave the powerful pair of Petr Cech and Per Mertesacker on the bench, instead naming David Ospina and Gabriel Paulista in the starting XI. 

It was smart management from Bilic, who knew the panic that Carroll could cause in the Arsenal defence. The Gunners had struggled against players with aerial prowess all season long—and there are few better than Carroll.

In his post-mortem, Wenger explained, per Andy Sims of the Press Association (h/t Daily Mail): "Why did we struggle with Carroll? Because he's good in the air. We had a good game but a bad result, and we paid for a weakness we have had all season—headers in our box."

After the match, an enamoured Bilic spoke about Carroll’s exploits, per Colin Mafham of the Express: "There are not many England players like Andy Carroll when he's fit. Defenders have to think about him all the time. Andy Carroll has everything. It’s impossible to stop him. Heading, he’s maybe the best in the world."

It’s certainly difficult to identify a striker as dangerous as Carroll when the ball is in the air. It’s not just his height—he also has terrific spring and is capable of generating great power in his headers. In fact, one of the few names that springs to mind as a potential rival is Arsenal’s own Olivier Giroud.

The Frenchman has not been a regular starter in the Arsenal attack this season, but perhaps Wenger will consider bringing him back into the fold for defensive reasons. Giroud’s presence in the XI would offer Arsenal a measure of security at set pieces—he could even be tasked with man-marking Carroll.

Alternatively, Wenger may feel that his side are in a better position to deal with Carroll than ever before. Remarkably, Arsenal have not conceded a single headed goal in this season’s Premier League.

Dan Mullan/Getty Images

That can be partly put down to Shkodran Mustafi’s excellent partnership with Laurent Koscielny at the heart of the Gunners defence. However, their wide players also deserve credit for tracking back and preventing crosses from coming in. The problem has been stopped at source—and the increased defensive work of the likes of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has been a huge factor in that.

Arsenal may have made some strides on the defensive front, but it will be impossible to stop the supply line entirely. Mustafi, Koscielny and Cech will have to be at their most alert to deal with Carroll’s threat. 

It sounds as if the player himself is itching for a start. Per Matt Law of the Telegraph, Bilic said: 

"

There is no question over whether or not Andy wants to play. He wants to play every game, he’s that kind of person. He likes to train, to play. It’s about his knee. It’s a decision for all of us. You have a scan, the opinion of the medical team and then we see how he feels. That’s the most important thing, especially when you are on the border and it is not black and white.

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Last season, Arsenal’s title challenge was effectively ended at Upton Park. The setting might be new this time around, but the threat remains the same. If Carroll starts, Arsenal must be at their very best if they’re to avoid a serious blow to this year’s title hopes. 

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and will be following the club from a London base throughout 2016/17. Follow him on Twitter here.