You can watch West Ham v Arsenal Live online here.
West Ham v Arsenal
Upton Park
Sunday, 25 October 2009
Kickoff: 16:15 BST
West Ham welcome Arsenal in the last Premier League game on Sunday – this London derby may not spark as much interest as the Liverpool – Manchester United game earlier in the day but it’s a key game for both London clubs. Arsenal will be hoping that one or both of Liverpool and United drop points, allowing them a chance to further sneak up to the top.
West Ham on the other hand are at a critical stage – the goals just aren’t coming for them and they have all sorts of problems on and off the pitch. Problems that would temporarily melt away and give the club much-needed impetus if they were to beat Arsenal.
West Ham Preview
West Ham have only scored 9 goals in 8 games – a statistic that will need to drastically improve if they want to stay in the Premier League next season. The Hammers have a good spine in the squad but there seem to be too many youngsters coming through the ranks at the moment – all good players but a lot of responsibility on their young shoulders.
West Ham haven’t scored in their last 4 games against Arsenal and haven’t beaten the Gunners since 2006 (when they did the double over them).
West Ham aren’t playing well in the league but they often raise their game for Arsenal’s visit and they’ve turned Arsenal over a few times in recent years. Will Zola be able to motivate this current batch of players to raise their game to match Arsenal’s?
Arsenal Preview
Arsenal gave a very casual performance against AZ Alkmaar in midweek – a repeat of that performance is likely to see them get beaten at Upton Park.
Arsenal have been climbing up the table unnoticed almost, without grabbing the headlines as United (Fergie v refs), Liverpool (4 straight losses) and Chelsea (transfer ban) all hog the limelight for the wrong reasons. They’ve done well enough and have won games convincingly but have yet to meet any serious challenges.
And the two serious challenges they did meet ended in defeats against the Manchester clubs. There’s still a fragility in Arsenal’s makeup, especially in defence, and West Ham will fancy themselves to at least score on Sunday.
West Ham v Arsenal Prediction
West Ham will have to raise their game by several notches to even compete with Arsenal on an even footing, whereas Arsenal just need to shift to the next gear and play faster and with more authority.
There’s only one outcome likely, and it’s not looking good for Zola.
Prediction: West Ham 1-2 Arsenal
You can watch West Ham v Arsenal Live online here.
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