Arsenal vs. West Ham United: Odds, Preview, Live Stream, TV Info
Arsenal are being backed by the bookmakers to get a first Premier League win under head coach Unai Emery when they face West Ham United at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.
Both sides are struggling, having each lost their opening two games of the new season.
Defensive frailty has plagued the two London sides, with Arsenal shipping five goals in defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea, while the Hammers were breached six times during losses to Liverpool and Bournemouth.
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Date: Saturday, August 25
Time: 3 p.m. BST/10 a.m. ET
TV Info: NBCSN
Live Stream: NBC Sports App, BBC Sport (Online Updates)
Odds (per OddsShark)
- Arsenal: 2-5
- West Ham: 7-1
- Draw: 7-2
Pressure is already building on Emery and West Ham boss Manuel Pellegrini just two games into their new jobs. Both have ample attacking resources but must fix issues at the back.
Emery needs to protect a defence still short on talent, even after the summer arrival of centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos. The desire to shield a suspect back line has seen the former Paris Saint-Germain boss deploy two holding midfielders.
He must decide whether to continue starting Matteo Guendouzi, the 19-year-old signed from FC Lorient this summer.
Despite his inexperience, the France under-20 international has been an active presence during difficult matches:
Guendouzi may well keep his place in the starting XI, but who plays alongside him is a bigger mystery. Arsenal signed Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria, but Granit Xhaka has started the last two games, although the Switzerland international was substituted at half-time of the 3-2 defeat at Chelsea.
Whoever mans the base of the Gunners' midfield will need to control a familiar face in the shape of Jack Wilshere. The playmaker spent over a decade at Arsenal before moving to east London this summer.
The 26-year-old has the technique and vision to exploit gaps between Emery's midfield and defence. He'll be tasked with supplying chances for bullish frontman Marko Arnautovic and tricky winger Felipe Anderson.
The duo can exploit Arsenal's issues between the posts, where Petr Cech has remained the first-choice goalkeeper despite the arrival of Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen.
West Ham's goal is manned by ex-Gunners stopper Lukasz Fabianski, who has received little help from a short-handed defence. The Poland international's former club can heap more misery on him thanks to the presence of cultured forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
He scored and assisted a goal against the Blues and has talked up Emery's attempts to change things after succeeding Arsene Wenger in the dugout, per Jack Wilkinson of Sky Sports News:
"We have to keep working because we have a new manager, a new philosophy and want to play in a different way than before under Wenger. It's not too easy but we are trying to achieve that and do what the coach is asking from us. He wants to play football and dominate the game and that's what we're doing, we're not just kicking the ball up front."
Mkhitaryan will again be the most common supply line for striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who needs to rebound after missing two easy chances at Stamford Bridge.
West Ham have the attacking players to punish the press and high defensive line Emery is trying to make a feature at Arsenal. However, the Gunners have enough quality of their own in forward areas to overwhelm a defence Pellegrini is still struggling to fortify.
