West Ham United v Arsenal Preview – Gunners could nail Hammers at 12/1

01/12/2016 | Categories: Football | Published by: AC

Updated: 26/05/2023

West Ham United v Arsenal Preview for the match at the Olympic Stadium – December 3, 2016 – 17:30 hrs.

Score Predictions and West Ham United v Arsenal Preview

In what is traditionally considered a nervy month for the Gunners, November went without a hitch. Yes, there were two close draws of 1-1 against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United, but the month ended well with 3-1 win over Bournemouth. Arsene Wenger's men are on a run of 19 consecutive unbeaten games in all forms of competition in the 2016-17 season and it seems highly unlikely that it would be broken at the Olympic stadium on Saturday.

For the Gunners, Spanish forward and striker Lucas Perez is on the recovery path and could well feature in the starting XI on Saturday. So it could be a toss between him and Olivier Giroud for the central striker's slot. But given Giroud's return to his goal-scoring ways, the Frenchman may get the nod.

For West Ham, Diafra Sakho will be out of action for 4 four weeks with a back injury. The 20-year old Ashley Fletcher could see a more prominent role in the absence of the Senagalese striker. He will have the company of Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini upfront in the Hammers' quest for scoring opportunities. The Hammers showed that they could be good on the breaks against Tottenham and they could be expected to do the same in their home game against Arsenal at the Olympic Stadium on Saturday. But like many relegation candidates it's the serious leakage of goals that could work to the side's detriment.With 24 goals conceded from 13 games, it's difficult to imagine a attack such as the Gunners not finding the back more than once on Saturday.

17th placed West Ham's record at home has been much better than that on the road. Of the 7 losses suffered by the Hammers in the current 2016-17 season, just 2 have been incurred at home. But both have come against teams of the top half – 2-4 to Watford and 0-3 to Southampton.

The Gunners have been truly impressive on the road this Premier League season and have won 4 of their 5 last away games, the odd one out being the 1-1 draw against Manchester United a fortnight back at Old Trafford. They have conceded goals only on four occasions, which is a healthily low percentage of the 13 goals they have let in so far. Arsene Wenger's men are definitely strong candidates to win the December 3 match and possibly move one place up from the 4th place they are positioned in, presently.