London rivals Arsenal and West Ham United will meet for a must-win Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, 25 August 2018, kick-off at 16h00 CAT.
Arsenal come into the game having suffered a second successive defeat at the start of the 2018/19 season, as they were down 3-2 at Stamford Bridge by Chelsea this past weekend. The result followed on from their 2-0 loss at home to Manchester City.
While the Gunners and new manager Unai Emery will be disappointed at a haul of zero points from their first two games (leaving them a lowly 17th on the log), at least they showed some attacking promise and resilience against the Blues, with goals from Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi.
Yet their suicidally high-line in defence is a problem Emery must address if they are to turn their fortunes around and return to challenging for a place in the UEFA Champions League.
West Ham United, much like Arsenal, are finding life tough under new management, as Manuel Pellegrini’s first two games in charge have brought defeats at the hands of Liverpool (4-0 away) and Bournemouth (2-1 at home).
While the loss away to Reds is no surprise for Hammers fans, defeat at home to the Cherries was a bitter pill to swallow and demonstrated just how much work West Ham still have to do if they are to rise up the table – they come into this clash placed 19th, with only Huddersfield below them.
Arsenal v West Ham – Head-to-head, Premier League
In head-to-head terms, Arsenal and West Ham have met in 44 Premier League matches. The Gunners have claimed 28 wins compared to just seven for the Hammers, while nine games have been drawn.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last five league clashes with West Ham and thrashed their fellow Londoners 4-1 when the teams last met, in April earlier this year at the Emirates Stadium, thanks to goals from Nacho Monreal, Aaron Ramsey and Alexandre Lacazette.
Matches played 44
Arsenal wins 28
West Ham wins 7
Draws 9
Last five Premier League meetings
22 April 2018 – Arsenal 4-1 West Ham
13 December 2017 – West Ham 0-0 Arsenal
5 April 2017 – Arsenal 3-0 West Ham
3 December 2016 – West Ham 1-5 Arsenal
9 April 2016 – West Ham 3-3 Arsenal