England Premier League
Saturday 12th January 2019
Kick off at 12:30pm GMT
Venue: Olympic Stadium
Match Preview:
It’s not been a great time at West Ham recently as they come into this game with just 1 win in their past four. But that’s one problem, the other is the news that top striker Marko Arnautovic wants to leave the club to make a big money move to China. Whilst he is probably just trying to get a better deal at The Hammers his motives may cause unrest to the squad ahead of such a big game.
West Ham beat Birmingham 2-0 in the FA Cup last weekend and their last Premier League game ended 2-2, after they were two goals down before Arnautovic saved the day which just underlines how important the Austrian player is to the club.
Home form for The Hammers has not been good where the club have lost more than won and have less than a 40% win rate here. They have not managed to win at home since the beginning of December.
Arsenal’s recent form has dipped where they have won 7 points from their last 15. The Gunners come into this game in 5th place but are just three points behind a possible Champions League finish. The problem is that they have a resurgent Manchester United just three points behind them and so they are obliged to keep on winning.
While Arsenal are performing well at home, away from home isn’t the same case and they have now gone 4 games without a win on the road. Their last away game ended in a 5-1 defeat to Liverpool but they have also dropped points against the likes of Brighton and Southampton.
There are some question marks over Arsenal manager Unai Emery’s tactics away from home where he has been playing the same formation which has led to many gaps in defence and we have to note that The Gunners have conceded 11 goals in their last 4 away games.
Team News:
West Ham: Javier Hernandez still has a muscle injury and is not due back for this game but could be assessed late on. The Hammers have another 7 long term injury problems that may not resolve themselves until February
Arsenal: After a few delays Hector Bellerin is back in training and will be fit to join the squad after his calf injury. Laurent Koscielny should also be back after his back problems. Mesut Ozil is training again and is set to be assessed after his knee injury. Nacho Monreal remains 50/50 but will also be assessed
West Ham vs Arsenal Head to Head:
Arsenal have won the last 3 meetings against West Ham, although the way the fixtures have fallen has meant that Arsenal have been at home in all of those games.
The last time the teams played at West Ham the game finished 0-0.
West Ham have not won at home to Arsenal since 2006.
In the last 7 meetings there have been 25 goals.
West Ham vs Arsenal Prediction:
West Ham remain quite unpredictable but they have some good results under their belts. The come back against Brighton should be applauded and they sailed through their FA Cup match. They also raise their game against the better teams and will do so against Arsenal in this derby. We only have to look at their 0-0 result against Chelsea when they were in the middle of a run of poor form. Our bet here will be to see goals and both teams to score and we will also go for The Hammers to win on the handicap. Arsenal do have the team to win this game and have some returning players but they may be a little rusty and their away form has been very poor recently.
West Ham vs Arsenal Betting Tips:
West Ham to beat Arsenal with a +1 goal start at 1.80
Total goals/BTTS (Over 2.5 & Yes) at 1.72
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