Arsenal vs. West Ham United
Venue:Emirates Stadium
Kick off: 8PM
Arsenal will be looking to make it back-to-back victories to begin the Premier League campaign when they welcome West Ham United to the Emirates Stadium tonight.
The Gunners eased to a 3-0 win over Fulham in their first top-flight fixture of the season, while West Ham were beaten 2-0 by Newcastle United in their home opener.
If nothing else, first-team manager Mikel Arteta has certainly made Arsenal supporters believe in their club again after just nine months in the job.
The Gunners have carried their momentum from the end of last season into 2020-21, which has begun with victory over Liverpool in the Community Shield and last week’s win at Fulham.
It is now six wins in their last seven competitive outings for Arteta’s men, including the Community Shield triumph, and they will be looking to keep the feel-good factor alive.
This is a fixture Arsenal tend to do well in, too, having defeated West Ham in 10 of their last 11 home encounters in all competitions.
Indeed, taking home and away fixtures into account, the Hammers have lost more Premier League matches against Arsenal (31) than versus any other opponent.
David Moyes could certainly do with a surprise victory this weekend following last week’s abject display, with Callum Wilson and Jeff Hendrick earning Newcastle a 2-0 victory.
West Ham did hit back with a 3-0 win over Charlton Athletic in round two of the EFL Cup in midweek, but that has done little to win over worried supporters.
United only ever seem to be a couple of bad results away from all-out anarchy, so Moyes will know the importance of quickly steadying the ship.
However, the East London outfit have a tough run ahead, taking on six sides from last season’s top eight in their next six matches.
The Irons’ away form picked up towards the end of last season, though, going three games unbeaten on their travels to conclude the season, including a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford.
A similar performance and result on Saturday would go a long way to appeasing disgruntled supporters, but in Arsenal they face one of the most in-form teams around.
Arsenal possible XI: Leno, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Bellerin, Elneny, Ceballos, Maitland-Niles, Willian, Lacazette, Aubameyang.
West Ham United possible XI: Fabianski, Fredericks, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Soucek, Rice, Bowen, Noble, Anderson, Antonio.