Arsenal v West Ham – Sunday Premier League

There are more matches happening Sunday than just the big one at Anfield. Arsenal, currently sitting fourth and 6 points adrift of leaders Chelsea, need a good win to shake off the attention of Manchester City and Aston Villa behind them. Arsenal do have two games in hand over the leaders, and this is a chance to get back ahead of their fierce rivals Tottenham who are one point ahead of them in the table. The Gunners had a midweek away 1-1 Champions League Group Stage tie with Dutch champions AZ Alkmaar, which will have disappointed them a little. But they return to London for their next match against Gianfranco Zola’s struggling West Ham United.

The Hammers cannot seem to get going, and look a long way short at the moment of having the quality to stay in the Premier League. After eight games they are second from bottom, three points behind Hull who are above them, but Zola’s men do have two games in hand over them. This is already getting to a critical stage for the Hammers, as yet another defeat could leave them with a small hill to climb, just to get out of the bottom three. One thing is for sure, and that England keeper Rob Green is going to get plenty of practice against the high scoring Arsenal attack.

The Gunners have netted 27 times in just eight games, leading the goal scoring charts for the Premier League. Zola is going to have his hands full trying to organise his leaky defence against the expected waves of Arsenal attacks. Will being away from the Emirates make any difference to the outcome of this game? Probably not. West Ham have yet to win at home, and have only picked up a last minute draw for their one home point so far. They have only picked up one away win and one draw, which sees their lowly total of 5 points.

Scott Parker should be back for the Hammers, and possibly Kieron Dyer along with striker Guillermo Franco. Any changes to the line-up will probably be welcome for West Ham right now, as they have fallen a long way from their top half of the table heroics in last season’s campaign. It is early days of course in terms of the Premier League season, but it could be one very long season for the London side if they do not turn around their fortunes. There will be no pressure on them during this game, with regards to the fact that nobody will be expecting anything less than an Arsenal victory. A comfortable Arsenal victory at that. A win could be a pivotal turning point in the West Ham season, but they are going to have to overcome a lot of poor form to do so, and find ways of shutting down the Arsenal attack.

Arsenal’s strengths lie in going forward, and they have three players on 4 league goals each as top scorers. West Ham simply rely on Carlton Cole at the moment, and he is in a good run of form. Cole has netted on each of his last four outings for the Hammers, and having scored on each of their three home games, so there is a good streak to jump on. Similarly, Robin Van Persie has scored in each of Arsenal’s last three games. One stat that is not going to bring a lot of heart to West Ham, is the one that reads only 2 home wins out of fourteen attempts against their London rivals.

West Ham to win: 8/5 at BetFred
Draw: 10/3 at Totesport
Arsenal to win: 6/1 at Stan James

Carlton Cole anytime scorer: 3/1 at SkyBet
Robin Van Persie anytime scorer: 7/5 at Expekt

Betting advice: Realistically, this is one of those games which should go down in an accumulator or treble. This is pretty much a one horse race, as Arsenal outclass West Ham in every department, and therefore the fixed odds for a win are not going to be great. An Arsenal win would be good to bank them down in a double with a Manchester City win on Sunday. Otherwise, look for a high scoring Arsenal result.
Arsenal to win 3-0: 11/1 at SkyBet
For the Hammers fan, West Ham +1 Asian Handicap: 11/10 at Stan James