West Ham v Arsenal preview

Gunners need win to leapfrog Hammers in Premier League table

Last updated: 5th October 2012   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Arsene Wenger - Arsenal Capital Cup

Arsene Wenger: Hoping to bounce back from defeat to Chelsea last weekend

Sam Allardyce - West Ham Premier League

Sam Allardyce: Looking to continue good record against Arsene Wenger

Opta Facts

  • Arsenal have won six and lost none of the last eight Premier League encounters with West Ham.
  • Arsene Wenger has won just two of his nine away games as a coach in Premier League head to head meetings with Sam Allardyce (W2 D3 L4), the first one v Bolton in April 2002 and the last one v Blackburn in August 2010.
  • West Ham scored the most goals from set plays in the 2011-12 Championship, while the last three league goals Arsenal have conceded have come from dead ball situations.

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Arsenal suffered their first defeat of the season against Chelsea last weekend and will need to be wary once again when they face West Ham at Upton Park.

The Hammers have been in fine form in front of their own fans, winning two and drawing one of their three Premier League games at the Boleyn Ground this season.

And Sam Allardyce will be relishing the chance to pit his wits against Arsene Wenger - a manager he has a winning record against in top-flight home games.

The Arsenal coach will certainly need to tighten up defensively if his side are to claim the three points needed to overtake West Ham in the table.

The Gunners, and new assistant Steve Bould, were widely praised for their improved defensive work in the early stages of this campaign but have now conceded three goals in their last two league games from set-pieces.

That will encourage a West Ham side bolstered by the return from injury of England international target-man Andy Carroll.Allardyce will consider handing a start to Carroll after he returned to action as a substitute against QPR but may want to ease the forward back to full fitness.

Winston Reid has also recovered from a head injury at Loftus Road but left-back Joey O'Brien is expected to miss out.

Jack Collison and Alou Diarra remain long-term absentees for the Hammers.Jack Wilshere made his long-awaited comeback against West Brom in a reserve game earlier this week but is not in contention for a first-team place just yet.

But centre-back Per Mertesacker has recovered from a virus so Wenger will have a decision to make in defence.

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and midfielder Abou Diaby remain on the sidelines with ankle and thigh complaints respectively.