Arsenal v West Ham predictions: London top-four rivals can put on a show

Free football tips, best bets and analysis for Arsenal v West Ham in the Premier League on Wednesday.

Where to watch

BT Sport 1, 8pm Wednesday

Best bets

Over 2.5 goals
3pts 17-20 Betfair

Emile Smith Rowe to score first
1pt each-way 11-1 bet365

Team news

Arsenal
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is unavailable having been stripped of the captaincy for disciplinary reasons. Sead Kolasinac is injured and Bernd Leno is a doubt, but Emile Smith Rowe (groin) should be fit to start.

West Ham
The Hammers are missing injured defenders Kurt Zouma, Angelo Ogbonna, Ben Johnson and Ryan Fredericks, although Aaron Cresswell could be back in the squad.

Match preview

Arsenal's 3-0 Premier League victory over Southampton on Saturday made it eight wins in their last nine home matches in all competitions and a victory over West Ham at the Emirates Stadium would take them into the top four.

The Hammers start this round of fixtures in fourth place, well behind title contenders Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea but a point ahead of Manchester United and two clear of the Gunners.

The match betting suggests Arsenal should leapfrog their visitors, but Mikel Arteta's men have taken advantage of a soft run of fixtures at home and they look short enough against a West Ham side who are bidding to improve on last term's sixth-placed finish.

David Moyes continues to impress in his second spell at the London Stadium, steering the Hammers to the Europa League knockout stages and memorable home league wins over top-eight clubs Leicester (4-1), Tottenham (1-0), Liverpool (3-2) and, earlier this month, Chelsea (3-2).

Manchester United needed an injury-time penalty save from David de Gea to pinch a 2-1 win at West Ham and champions Manchester City had to work hard for a home victory by the same scoreline against Moyes's men at the end of November.

The Hammers clearly relish these big games and neutrals will be hoping for a repeat of their last meeting with Arsenal, who trailed 3-0 after 32 minutes in March before roaring back to draw 3-3.

West Ham drew 0-0 at Burnley in a dour game on Sunday but their meetings with the top clubs have been far more entertaining affairs and over 2.5 goals looks a solid bet.

The Hammers are missing several defenders, including centre-backs Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna, but they have some excellent attacking options and there are still doubts over Arsenal's new-look rearguard against the better teams in the division.

They have won six league games to nil this term but five of those were against sides in the bottom five and the other came at Leicester, who had eight shots on target.

Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was also kept busy by Southampton at the weekend and it could be a similar story against the Hammers, although Arsenal will be confident of breaching a depleted Irons defence.

They have scored at least twice in five of their last six home league matches and, while striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is out in the cold after being stripped of the captaincy, midfielders Emile Smith Rowe and Martin Odegaard are in excellent scoring form.

Odegaard is bidding to find the net for the fourth consecutive game but 11-1 shot Smith Rowe is a tempting each-way bet to score first, having notched in six of his last 11 club appearances as well as on his first England start in San Marino.

Key stat

Arsenal have lost all four of their matches against teams above them in the table, conceding 14 goals.

Inside info

Arsenal

Penalty taker Alexandre Lacazette
Free-kick wizard Martin Odegaard
Set-piece aerial threat Gabriel
Card magnet Granit Xhaka

West Ham

Penalty taker Manuel Lanzini/Mark Noble
Free-kick wizardSaid Benrahma
Set-piece aerial threatTomas Soucek
Card magnetDeclan Rice

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