England Premier League
Sunday 1st May 2022
Kick off at 4:30pm BST
Venue: London Stadium
Match Preview:
Unless they win the Europa League West Ham will not be playing in next season’s Champions League and at this present point this feels like a stick or twist moment for David Moyes side. This season could end up being one of the most memorable for the Hammers but there is also the threat of it ending on a damp squib.
Let’s concentrate on the league first and the Hammers come into this game in 7th place, finish there and they will play in the Conference League next season at least but it still represents a step down from their Europa League participation this season. It’s been poor form for Moyes side though right at the business end of the season and they have won just one game from their past five which came against Everton. The Hammers last game finished in a 1-0 defeat away to Chelsea and they were unlucky not to at least pick a point from that one. They are 3 points shy of 6th placed Manchester United and 8 points behind 4th placed Arsenal and have played a game extra.
But for West Ham their season is boiling down to Eintract Frankfurt the team they must beat in the 2nd leg of their Europa League semi-final. They lost the first leg 2-1 at home which was a blow and they now face an uphill battle to get to what would be an historic final for the club.
Arsenal look the favourites to claim 4th place but they still have the looming threat of Tottenham to deal with. In fact the Gunners will know their situation well as Tottenham play before this game and they could be one point better off in 4th place if they win their earlier match against Leicester. Arsenal have blown hot and cold this year although they have managed to win their last two games in a row beating Chelsea and Manchester United no less and scoring 7 goals in those games, that is a fantastic response to some poor form they had to go through before.
Away form overall has seen Arsenal win 50% of their games but they have lost two of their last three games on the road. Arsenal may also be eyeing a 3rd place finish if Chelsea have lost earlier in the day and a win here would see the Gunners only be 3 points behind Thomas Tuchel’s side
Team News:
West Ham: Craig Dawson is suspended for this game after his sending off. Issa Diop has an ankle injury and looks likely to miss the rest of the season.
Arsenal: Bukayo Saka has a knock but is expected to be fit for this game. Thomas Partey has a thigh injury with no specified return date. Kieran Tierney looks out for the season with a knee injury.
West Ham vs Arsenal Head to Head:
The clubs drew 3-3 here last season.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Arsenal won 2-0.
In the last 13 meetings West Ham have just one victory over Arsenal which happened in 2019 when the club were at home and they won 1-0.
West Ham vs Arsenal Prediction:
Just what does David Moyes do? On one hand he has to be thinking of the 2nd leg game against Eintract Frankfurt in the Europa League, at the same time the fans at this game will demand a performance against a London rival at home and some will still believe that a top 4 finish is on if they win this game. We think Moyes will leave some players out at the end of the day the game in Europe is one of the biggest the Hammers will play in recent history.
Arsenal are on a roll and though this won’t be an easy game for them we expect Mikel Arteta’s side to ease to a win here and get all three points. If they can score early and silence the home fans quickly Arsenal should have few troubles in this game and that would formally end West Ham’s Champions League hopes, but we have heard that term a lot lately but the Hammers really has bigger fish to fry later in the week.
West Ham vs Arsenal Betting Tips:
Arsenal to beat West Ham at 1.72
Anytime goalscorer: Bukayo Saka at 2.50
Anytime goalscorer: Emile Smith-Rowe at 2.50
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