West Ham v Arsenal likely to be a high scoring encounter

West Ham take on Arsenal this weekend and any look at the game ends in this: There is no way this encounter is going to end goalless.

Both West Ham and Arsenal have had a bit of trouble this season keeping clean sheets, but have managed to fire themselves to decent league positions based on the strength of their attack. The Hammers have shown resilience against some of the big sides, whereas Arsenal have struggled, but the Gunners’ attack has been relentless with Aubameyang being named their player of the month for December and has bagged 14 goals so far this season.

However due to goalkeeping errors and poor communication in the defence, they have been leaking goals. They seem unsettled at the back with a number of injuries and full backs more focused on scoring goals than preventing them. As such I think we’re going to see goals for both sides in this encounter.

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Since the start of the season, the Hammers have 3 clean sheets in the Premier League. Arsenal? Also 3. These aren’t defensively minded sides. Pellegrini brought in a new back three (centrebacks and keeper) over the Summer and has focused on implementing his passing attacking style so far. Emery, whilst he hasn’t got too many new recruits in the back lines, has also focused on his change of style which has inadvertently exposed his defence.

Firing Arsenal into Champions League contention has been Aubameyang. The striker takes on average 2.6 shots per game and is averaging around a goal every one and a half games. He is backed up by Lacazette, but the Gabon front man has taken the central striker role and is a danger whenever Arsenal have the ball. Diop will have to be on top form to contain his threat.

Whilst Arnautovic is likely to lead the line for the Hammers, and is certainly our biggest threat as a club, it’s the two backup strikers that may play that could cause the biggest headaches. Chicharito is pacey and tricky, so could cause the communication errors to be exploited. Andy Carroll, fresh from his goal at the weekend, could exploit the issues that Southampton did with Arsenal’s lack of ability to deal with crosses into the box.

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What you can guarantee in this game is that it will not be dull. It could be a cluster of mistakes, low quality and scrappy, but unless both sides miss a host of chances I can’t see this being a 0-0. I can’t actually see either side keeping a clean sheet, and the weekend should start with a bang.