Arsenal-West Ham is a match valid for the seventeenth day of the Premier League and is played on Monday at 21:00: predictions, TV, streaming.
There are few doubts about the resilience, both physical and mental, of Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, the big surprise of the “first half” of this Premier League. The Gunners, whose aim was initially to try and qualify for the Champions League – from which the Londoners have been missing for quite a few seasons – are instead literally dominating.
And after fourteen matches they are looking down on everyone, a full five points ahead of second-placed Manchester City. The gap to the defending champions has widened further in the last round. When, in their last match before the break, they went on to win 2-0 at home to Wolverhampton, while Pep Guardiola’s men collapsed in front of their own crowd against Brentford. There is a lot of curiosity as to what their approach will be after more than 50 days of stoppage time, if they will be able to keep up this pace. So far 12 wins, one draw and only one defeat for Xhaka and his teammates, who boast the best defence in the league (11 goals conceded) along with Newcastle.
Arsenal’s home performance is amazing: at the Emirates Stadium the Gunners have won six games out of six, losing only in the League Cup against Brighton and most recently in a friendly (0-2) against Massimiliano Allegri’s Juventus.
Arteta, however, is concerned about the condition of Gabriel Jesus, who returned injured from Qatar: the Brazilian striker, who has scored 11 goals so far in the capital’s shirt, is likely to be out until at least February. It will be young Nketiah’s turn to shoulder the attacking burden in the Boxing Day derby with West Ham. David Moyes’ side are not doing very well this year and due to a bad start they are on the edge of the relegation zone: the goal of another European qualification seems already compromised. The Hammers lost to Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Leicester in November and the only joy came in the Conference League.
Moyes
The Prediction
Despite the unknowns linked to the absence of Gabriel Jesus, Arsenal will be able to bounce back and are favourites in a derby that could provide plenty of excitement. We expect at least three goals in total in the Emirates Stadium extravaganza.
Arsenal v West Ham line-up probables
- ARSENAL (4-2-3-1): Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Tierney; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Nketiah.
- WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Johnson, Kehrer, Dawson, Emerson Palmieri; Rice, Soucek; Fornals, Paqueta, Benrahma; Bowen.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 2-1
