Arsenal vs West Ham United: Preview, Lineups and Prediction

Arsenal are all set to lock horns with West Ham United in the 26th game week of the English Premier League campaign in a bid to close the gap with the table toppers, Liverpool. They are up against the Hammers, who are struggling to string together results in the ongoing campaign. Arsenal continue to dominate the league, but due to poor form at the start of the campaign, they are eight points adrift of the Merseysiders. However, Arsenal have a game in hand, and with Liverpool playing Manchester City over the weekend, the Gunners could expect the lead to be cut down to five points.

They have remained unbeaten in the last five games, with four wins and a draw, with their latest win coming against Leicester City in the previous gameweek. With the rest over the last week, Arsenal will want to come out roaring from the start of the game. On the other hand, West Ham United are 16th on the points table with just 27 points in their kitty. They sit comfortably ten points above 18th-placed Ipswich Town and eight points above 17th-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, but the threat of relegation remains with more than a third of the campaign still left. In the last five fixtures, they have just one win, increasing anxiety among the players and management.

Arsenal vs West Ham United: Injuries being thorn in the journey

Arsenal are struggling to maintain their form in the English top flight, with a long list of absentees across all departments. They are without their full-back Takehiro Tomiyasu and forwards Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli. In their previous game, they struggled in front of goal until Merino stepped up to score with striker instincts. 

Injuries have not been kind to relegation-battling West Ham United either. They are without Michail Antonio, Summerville, Fullkrug, and Coufal for the long term, while the injury to Paqueta is a short one, and he can be expected to return to the lineup soon.

Arsenal vs West Ham United: Predicted Line-ups

Arsenal: David Raya, Jurien Timber, William Saliba, Gabriel Maghalaes, Nathan Lewis-Skelly, Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Ethan Nwaneri, Mikel Merino, Leandro Trossard

West Ham United: Alphonse Areola, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Maximilian Kilman, Emerson, James Ward-Prowse, Edson Alvarez, Jarrod Bowen, Carlos Soler, Mohamad Kudus, Evan Ferguson

Predicted Result: Arsenal 3-0 West Ham United