West Ham United vs. Arsenal: Team News, Live Stream, TV Info, Ticket News
This pivotal Premier League clash between West Ham United and Arsenal has the potential to be the tie of the weekend.
There's plenty at stake for both sides. The Hammers are hunting a UEFA Champions League spot, and after three consecutive draws, they know they must win to keep their hopes of pipping the two Manchester clubs to the post alive. A victory over Arsenal could be just the fillip they need in their fight to make the top four.
As for Arsenal, the Gunners are still in with a shot of landing an even bigger prize—the Premier League title. This is one of the tougher fixtures in a run-in where they must win every game if they are to stand any chance of overhauling Leicester City’s advantage.
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Date: Saturday, April 9
Time: 12:45 p.m. GMT/7:45 a.m. ET
Venue: Upton Park, London
TV Info: BT Sport 1 / BT Sport 1 HD / BT Sport Ultra HD (UK), NBCSN, NBC Universo
Live Stream: BT Sport App (UK), NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S.)
Ticket Information: Both home and away allocations are sold out.
Form
West Ham
W (1-0) vs. Tottenham Hotspur
W (2-3) vs. Everton
D (1-1) vs. Manchester United
D (2-2) vs. Chelsea
D (2-2) vs. Crystal Palace
Arsenal
W (0-4) vs. Hull City
L (1-2) vs. Watford
L (3-1) vs. Barcelona
W (0-2) vs. Everton
W (4-0) vs. Watford
Although Arsenal lost to West Ham earlier this season, the Gunners generally have an excellent record against their London rivals. In fact, they've won nine out of the last 10 league meetings between the two teams.
The last time the Hammers beat Arsenal at home was back in 2006, when Alan Pardew had an unsavoury exchange on the touchline with a furious Arsene Wenger.
However, Arsenal have won just two of their last seven away matches. They'll need to replicate the sort of efficient performance they produced on their last trip to Goodison Park if they're to come away from east London with all three points.
The Managers
When West Ham beat Arsenal on the opening day of the season, some onlookers naturally pondered if that might prove to be a fluke result. However, the Hammers' outstanding campaign has shown that to be far from the case. In fact, that match was their way of laying down a marker for an excellent season. Manager Slaven Bilic told Adam Shergold of MailOnline:
"We have shown throughout the season it wasn’t a shocking result as we have done it against a number of teams who are favourites against us home and away.
We have had our ups and downs since the first game, more ups than downs, and now we are talking about confidence; we are a confident team, there is a still a long way to go.
There is a big fight and it is very narrow, looking above us, and below us the teams are queuing.
"
Bilic would love to make it a double over Arsenal and reinforce his Champions League hopes in the process.
As for Arsenal, they still harbour slim hopes of lifting the league. Boss Wenger has insisted to Arsenal.com his team will fight to the very end:
"We know that we need nearly the perfect run and we know as well that we don’t look only in front of us, we look behind us as well. We are chased by a group of teams who can make it very difficult for us so we have just to focus on our performance and hope we finish [the season] in a very strong way.
As long as it’s mathematically possible, there’s a strong possibility [Arsenal can catch Leicester]. You look at the difficulty of the Premier League and they have been very consistent but every game is very, very tight. That can go the other way.
"
Wenger's determination is admirable. However, he must know that defeat at Upton Park would spell the end of Arsenal's fading title dream.
Team News
West Ham
Since the red card Cheikhou Kouyate picked up against Crystal Palace has been rescinded, West Ham almost have a full-strength squad to name their team from.
The only major absentees are James Collins and Sam Byram. Kouyate's availability is a particular boost, since he has scored twice in his three Premier League appearances against the Gunners.
Predicted West Ham XI (4-3-3): Adrian; Michail Antonio, Winston Reid, Angelo Ogbonna, Aaron Cresswell; Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate, Manuel Lanzini; Emmanuel Emenike, Diafra Sakho, Dimitri Payet
Arsenal
Arsenal could welcome back Aaron Ramsey and Mathieu Flamini into their squad for the game at Upton Park. However, neither man is likely to come into the starting XI, as Wenger keeps faith with the men who put Everton and Watford to bed.
The one change could be in goal, with Petr Cech available to replace David Ospina. Cech's height and presence could be helpful in countering West Ham's set-piece threat.
Predicted Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Petr Cech; Hector Bellerin, Gabriel Paulista, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny; Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Alex Iwobi; Danny Welbeck
Players to Watch
West Ham: Dimitri Payet
Although Payet is a new face in the Premier League, Wenger has been aware of him for some time. It seems he tracked his progress for some time, but ultimately decided against signing the mercurial midfielder. The Gunners boss told Sky Sports:
"He was a top talent, always, but had periods of being up and down.
I've looked at him many times. I've known him for a long time. He played at Saint-Etienne and we watched him many times.
I think he has all the attributes to be a top player, which he is, but he's 29-years-old already. He's matured a lot and come back into the national team, which shows he was more consistent.
"
Payet will likely be West Ham's most dangerous player on Saturday, so the likes of Elneny and Coquelin will have to be at their vigilant best to keep him quiet.
Arsenal: Alex Iwobi
Thus far in his young career, Alex Iwobi's Premier League record reads "two starts, two goals." He'll be looking to make it a hat-trick on what will be his first and last appearance at Upton Park.
Iwobi's outstanding progress appears set to earn him a second contract extension inside 12 months. His manager told Arsenal.com:
"We are discussing extending his contract at the moment. He’s a real Arsenal person because he’s been here since the age of eight. He has three years left at the end of the season anyway but we want to keep him here for longer. If there have been some positives in the last few months, it’s how well and how quickly he’s emerged as a player with a good impact.
"
In a difficult second half of the season, Iwobi's progress has been a major bonus.
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.
