West Ham vs Arsenal tips and predictions: Gunners out for revenge in fiery London derby

Declan Rice

On-fire Arsenal make the short trip across the capital for the London derby against a West Ham side lacking a creative spark on Sunday afternoon (1400 GMT).

It’s hard to believe that Arsenal haven’t beaten West Ham in their last three matches, and even lost two of those encounters.

This season an inspired West Ham comfortably dumped Arsenal out of the Carabao Cup 3-1 in November.

Then just after Christmas the Irons rocked up to Arsenal’s back yard and dispatched them 2-0. It would have been three if Said Benrahma hadn’t missed a penalty in the dying moments of the game. A penalty given away by Declan Rice.

The sight of the former West Ham captain trooping off the pitch at the end of both defeats, left many a Hammers’ fan with a wry smile on their face and probably on Rice’s too.

But this is West Ham and therefore this mini-hoodoo can’t last forever.

The last time West Ham beat Arsenal three times in one season was nearly a hundred years ago, during the 1924/25 campaign and they had club all-time top scorer Vic Watson in those days. Jarrod Bowen is still a few hundred goals off reaching those heady heights.

Rice and co. are bound to have their revenge at some point and this Sunday will be the perfect opportunity.

It’s a good time to face West Ham, their bid to cement a place in the top six is typically wobbling at just the wrong moment and not having midfielder Lucas Paqueta available is turning out to be a huge issue.

West Ham haven’t won a game in six, including a cup defeat to Bristol City. Their last victory came against Arsenal in December and that already seems like a lifetime ago. The Hammers have gone stale and boring without their Brazilian playmaker.

Despite the 3-0 defeat to Manchester United last week, West Ham didn’t play that badly and the result certainly flattered Erik ten Hag’s men.

But West Ham are leaky, they haven’t kept a clean sheet in five and goalkeeper Alphonse Areola has saved their blushes on many occasions, especially as the centre-backs in front of him are prone to costly errors.

Goals have also dried up a bit for West Ham with Mohammed Kudus at AFCON and Paqueta injured, just four all year from six games. But they had 22 shots against Manchester United so they are always knocking at the door.

Casemiro strangling Edson Alvarez in the area is obviously not a penalty at Old Trafford, so that should have seen both teams to score land and it should do again at the London Stadium.

Arsenal meanwhile have caught fire since getting dumped out the FA Cup at the start of January, with three wins on the bounce including that massive victory over Liverpool last weekend.

With ten goals from those games, over 2.5 goals also looks like a safe punt and to really spice it up throw in a goalscorer looking for revenge.

Bukayo Saka missed a crucial penalty in the 2-2 draw last season and will be looking to make amends, while a Declan Rice strike will be a dagger in the heart of East London. But it’s bound to happen eventually, that’s the West Ham way.

Obviously, Rice won’t celebrate if he does score… will you Declan?

Team news

Alphonse Areola was taken off as a precaution at Old Trafford after a clash of heads, but should return in goal for West Ham.

Lucas Paqueta (calf) and Michail Antonio (knee) are still out. Kalvin Phillips is expected to remain on the bench after a rocky start to life in East London.

Gabriel Jesus is likely to undergo a late fitness test on his troublesome knee injury, while Bukayo Saka should shake off an ankle knock to start.

Oleksandr Zinchenko limped off against Liverpool with a calf injury and is a doubt, so Takehiro Tomiyasu could take his place after returning from the Asian Cup.

Thomas Partey, Jurrien Timber and Fabio Vieira are all still out.

Key stats

-   West Ham last did the double over Arsenal in 2006/07
-   Arsenal have lost just one of their last 15 PL away games against West Ham
-   The last time West Ham beat Arsenal three times in one campaign happened in 1924/25
-   West Ham are unbeaten in their last six Premier League home games
-   Arsenal have won their first three league games of 2024 – only in 1935 have the Gunners won each of their first four league games in a calendar year