West Ham vs Arsenal: 4 pre-match discussions

Despite coming to terms with the longer breaks in between matches to allow for more recovery time and greater absorption of tactics and ideas, eight days is too long to wait for an Arsenal match.

The lack of Europe has helped considerably this season but that doesn’t mean it’s been enjoyable. Obviously not. And now, with just five games remaining of the Premier League season, these spells in between matches just crank up the nerves and pressure.

Arsenal have their fate firmly in their own hands. Top four is theirs if they carry out their end of the bargain. Beating West Ham on Sunday would constitute another huge step towards Champions League football. So close you can almost taste it.

Following events in east London there will be another weeks’ break before hosting Leeds, and Arsenal could be in a fabulous position to move further ahead of Tottenham by then if Liverpool do the business against them at Anfield.

West Ham vs Arsenal: 4 pre-match discussions as Mikel Arteta prepares his side for another crucial Premier League clash

But it is one step at a time, starting with Sunday.

David Moyes’ side have done magnificently this season. They stunned everyone by finishing sixth last season and with a Europa League campaign to contend with this time around it was felt they wouldn’t have the depth to compete on two fronts. Yet he we are, with them in the semi-finals of a major continental competition and still chasing a top six finish.

It won’t be an easy game and any player who thinks otherwise will get punished for that mindset on Sunday. Equally, the fans may be in for a surprise if they follow suit.

Another enthralling games awaits and it is one with plenty to discuss pre-match.

1. Can Eddie Nketiah Keep Improving?

Nobody left St Mary’s with much credit in the bank, even if some individuals weren’t directly responsible for the defeat.

Eddie Nketiah did alright, though. He did.

Showing willingness to defend, run the channels and press from the front, it was his work off the ball that helped craft Arsenal’s best chance of the game. Far from sparkling, he still showed encouraging signs.

And those signs he carried over into his Stamford Bridge display four days later. Hard working, neater in control of the ball and more ferocious when in front of goal, the two goals he scored will live long in his memory. All round it was a fine outing from him, one he and the team sorely needed.

While he didn’t score against Manchester United, he arguably played even better.

His first touch was tighter, his hold-up play was stronger, his movement off the ball was sharper and tactically is was a more refined performance from him. While he should have scored when he blasted straight at De Gea, it was an area he improved on in a near identical situation in the build-up to the penalty.

Blowing his lungs out by the final minute, he put in a proper shift. Steadily across these three starts he’s improved and improved, so can he go one better on Sunday?

(don’t you dare drop him, Mikel)

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