Arsenal will take on West Ham at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, 22 February with the Gunners looking to pile the pressure on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
The league leaders dropped more points on Wednesday night when they drew 2-2 at Aston Villa, which has opened the door for Arsenal in the title race.
West Ham, meanwhile, are still adjusting to life under Graham Potter and are potentially even at risk of being dragged into the relegation battle.
How the bookies view it: The hosts start as big favourites
Arsenal come into this one as red-hot favourites with the bookies which isn't a huge surprise given they currently have 26 more points on the board than their opponents. BoyleSports have priced an Arsenal win as short as 2/9 while a win for West Ham has been priced at 11/1. The draw, which would be a bitterly disappointing result for the Gunners, has been priced at 9/2.
Recent head-to-head: Encouragement for both sides
On the face of it, this should be a match that Arsenal are looking forward to considering they have scored eleven goals against West Ham across their two most recent clashes with the Hammers. However, the Gunners did lose to West Ham the last time they faced them at the Emirates Stadium so there will still be some scars from that defeat.
Players to watch: Will Merino start up top?
One player to keep a close eye on this weekend is Mikel Merino, who was signed by Arsenal last summer to play as a midfielder. However, injuries to key players in forward positions has forced Mikel Arteta to consider Merino as a striker and based on how he performed off the bench last time out against Leicester, the Spaniard could be capable.
This will only likely be a temporary measure until Arsenal get more bodies back but the way Merino took his two goals at the King Power Stadium last weekend should mean he gets a place in the starting XI this weekend, with Leandro Trossard and Ethan Nwaneri either side.
Speaking of Nwaneri, the 17-year-old looks like a gem of a player and could end up being Arsenal's secret weapon in the title race. The exciting young winger has shown plenty of maturity and intelligence, to go with his pace and trickery in recent weeks and Arsenal are likely to lean on him again for creativity on Saturday.
Predicted line-ups
Arsenal are without several forwards for this fixture with Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus all out while Takehiro Tomiyasu is also unavailable. West Ham will be without some fo their most important players, too, with Michail Antonio, Vladimir Coufal and Lucas Paqueta all injured.
Arsenal: Raya – Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly – Rice, Partey, Odegaard – Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard
West Ham: Areola – Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Kilman, Emerson – Alvarez ,Ward-Prowse – Bowen, Soler, Kudus – Ferguson
Anything else catch the eye?
Arsenal are going to lean on their defence to get through these next few weeks and they did well last time out against Leicester. Their clean sheet at the King Power means they have now kept two clean sheets in their last three Premier League matches. They are priced at 7/10 with BoyleSports to get another one on Saturday.
This English Premier League match between Arsenal and West Ham will be played on Feb 22, 2025 and kick off at 15:00. Check below for our tipsters best Arsenal vs West Ham prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
