West Ham vs Arsenal – Preview

Arsenal travel to Upton Park this weekend to take on West Ham in Saturday’s late game. The game kicks off at 5:30pm UK time and is on ESPN back home in England.

Per Mertesacker missed the game against Olympiakos on Wednesday due to a virus. He came into training on Thursday and did a little session and will have a late test before a decision is made on whether he will play or not. If the German can’t play, expect a partnership of Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny for the third game running.

Mertesacker faces a late fitness test to see whether he can play this weekend.

Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski remain sidelined with their injuries, so Vito Mannone continues in goal for the Gunners, whilst Damian Martinez will be on the bench as the sub keeper. Abou Diaby remains unavailable, whilst Bacary Sagna is expected to make his comeback from injury in the reserves on Monday. All three of Sagna, Jack Wilshere and Emmanuel Frimpong won’t be rushed back into first-team action.

West Ham have been boosted by the return of Andy Carroll, who made a sub appearance in the Hammers’ 2-1 win against QPR on Monday. Winston Reid is also expected to be back, whilst Joey O’Brien is a doubt.

Arsenal have a good record against West Ham and are unbeaten in their last 8 games against them. The Hammers haven’t even managed to score a goal against the Gunners in the past three meetings between the two sides, but one thing you can say about Sam Allardyce (who wasn’t their manager in any of those games) is that he has had Arsenal’s number in the past. His Bolton sides used to be a bogey team for even the best of Arsenal teams, because Big Sam likes his teams to get in your face and make it hard for teams such as Arsenal, who like to pass the ball around and play pretty football.

It will certainly be a tough place to go and get all three points from, but we will have to see how it plays out. You can never tell with West Ham what they’re going to do. They’re unpredictable and can spring surprises on teams even in the years they have been relegated. Like I said before, Allardyce will have his boys up for this one. I’ve seen a different Arsenal this year, going to places like Stoke and matching them physically and playing well. Manchester City away was another game they impressed me in. I then saw a familiar Arsenal last weekend against Chelsea. Sloppy defensively and failing to put the ball in the net enough times, despite the chances created on the day. They were sloppy once more midweek and dare I say, had they played a better side than Olympiakos, they may well have been punished for it. They can’t afford to be like that at Upton Park this weekend, that’s for sure.