Premier League leaders, Arsenal host London rivals, West Ham at Emirates Stadium in Boxing Night Football.
Victory would see Arsenal open an eight-point lead over second-placed Manchester City.
West Ham meanwhile could begin this match looking to escape the relegation zone if results involving Everton and Southampton elsewhere earlier in the day swing against them.
Team News
Gabriel Jesus is ruled out for Arsenal as the Brazillian continues to recover from a knee injury which he suffered during the World Cup.
Takehiro Tomiyasu (hamstring), Emile Smith Rowe (groin) and William Saliba (fitness) are doubts whilst Oleksandr Zinchenko (muscle) and Reiss Nelson (thigh) are both ruled out.
Aaron Ramsdale, Ben White, Thomas Partey, Bukayo Saka, Granit Xhaka and Gabriel Martinelli meanwhile are all available, having avoided injury during their individual World Cup exploits.
West Ham could be without Gianluca Scamacca after the Italian forward suffered an ankle injury during training.
Maxwel Cornet (calf) is set to return but Michail Antonio (thigh) and Aaron Cresswell (hamstring) face late fitness tests,
Lukasz Fabianski, Thilo Keher, Lucas Paqueta and Declan Rice all returned from the World Cup without injury, but Nayef Aguerd (adductor) is a doubt following his cupset antics with Morocco en-route to fourth place.
Kurt Zouma (knee) is also expected to be absent.
Stat Attack
- Arsenal are unbeaten in their last six meetings against West Ham (W5, D1).
- West Ham have failed to win any of their last six league visits to Emirates Stadium (L6).
- Arsenal’s two clean sheets in their last six meetings against West Ham both came at home, in 1-0 win in March 2020 then 2-0 victory in December 2021.
- Gabriel Martinelli has opened the scoring in each of Arsenal’s last two home matches, of which the Gunners went on to beat Liverpool then Nottingham Forest respectively.
- West Ham have claimed just one point from their last five away matches in the Premier League (D1, L4).
Prediction
With just one goal conceded in their last five league matches before the international break, Arsenal now face the tricky task of being the ‘hunted’ as league leaders but Jesus’ absence is a worry up front given his attacking presence and link-up play during attacks.
On the other hand, his absence now gives Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah a chance to step up and show their worth as strikers so I am intrigued as to how Arsenal will fare in the coming weeks, although they are well supported by a strong midfield and defence which should provide confidence.
West Ham meanwhile have been inconsistent domestically this season amidst their excellence in Europe, yet they now have two-and-a-half months to knuckle down and avoid a relegation fight before they resume their European adventures.
Defence though proved their downfall last time out with a sluggish effort against Leicester albeit saved by Lukasz Fabianski’s goalkeeping performance, which crucially limited their defeat to just two goals whilst their attack simply were wasteful with a weak end product.
This London derby clash though sees pride at stake for both clubs but if Arsenal can adapt quickly and get the opening goal, they should have enough to clinch a solid home win.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 West Ham
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