Arsenal vs West Ham: The Inside Track

West Ham will carry on their Premier League campaign with a trip to the Emirates Stadium to face table-toppers Arsenal.

Arsenal won their first game of the season against Fulham 3-0 in an impressive display. Whereas, West Ham lost their first fixture to Newcastle United. To get the ‘Inside Track’ on the Gunners, Green Street Hammers have got in contact with Ross Kennerly Site-Expert at Arsenal fansite, Pain in the Arsenal.

How has the summer transfer window been, any new faces that should concern West Ham?

Work is still being done to acquire the midfield targets Mikel Arteta desperately craves, but other areas of the pitch have been addressed this window.

Willian had a sparkling debut against Fulham, laying on two assists and providing some much-needed creativity to an Arsenal side that struggled to carve out chances last season. Given his rip-roaring start, I think we can expect him to get the nod against the Hammers.

In defence, Gabriel Magalhaes also began his Gunners career off in ideal circumstances. Good lord, we’ve yearned for a left-footed central defender, and now having finally got him there is distinctly more balance in the heart of the back-three setup.

Dani Ceballos has returned on loan too, where his form towards the tail end of last season was too good to stop Arsenal kindly asking Real Madrid if they could borrow him again. Fortunately, they obliged.

What are the weak spots in Arsenal side West Ham could exploit?

As good as Gabriel was on his debut, it doesn’t mask the fact that he’s completely inexperienced in English football and speaks precious little of the language. He could become an Arsenal stalwart in the years to come, but the partnership of him and Rob Holding when Arsenal move to a back four in possession might be the area the Hammers should focus on.

Holding and Gabriel were good at Craven Cottage, yet they’ve played but 90 minutes together and it’s very hard to forge a solid understanding in such a short space of time.

Aubameyang has finally signed a new deal, how big is that for Arsenal?

More than you can imagine. Arsenal, a club who’ve been known to sell all their best players at the primes of their careers in this Emirates era have finally seen a member of the squad buy into the future. It speaks volumes that Aubameyang has committed his future to a club that finished eighth last season.

It comes down to a clear vision, belief in the system and a manager who has galvanised an entire club – not just the players – to the point where not one person foresees anything other than future success. Oh, and he’s also a stupidly good striker that we’d have no chance of replacing with the pitiful budget we’ve got. All in all, bloody marvellous news.

What are your thoughts on West Ham, very little business has happened, where do you think they will be once the season ends?

I think I speak on behalf of many football supporters when I express my concern for West Ham. Last season was dire, barring the Michail Antonio and Declan Rice show in the final run-in, with, if anything, the squad worse off this time around.

Tomas Soucek is a good player, but players have gone with no obvious quality coming in which, ignoring the talent for a moment, is cause for dejection in and around the dressing room. The players need help, they need galvanising, but at the moment there is little scope for optimism. What works in their favour is that there are three worse teams than them in the league. 17th, maybe?

Which West Ham players worry you going into the match?

As mentioned, Tomas Soucek is a player to admire, having seen him impress for Slavia Prague in the Champions League prior to him joining the club. He has the presence in both boxes that is a real cause for concern.

Then there is Antonio. He’s the tireless legs up front who West Ham will look to feed whenever there is a turnover in possession, and as we’re sure he will, targeting the not-overly-quick Holding will be his number one priority. Andriy Yarmolenko has a wicket left foot, too.

Last season saw the Gunners do the double over West Ham, who will win this one?

It’s a funny one. Even though both the times West Ham have come to the Emirates in the last two seasons they’ve lost, there is no hiding from the fact Arsenal scraped wins both times. Last season’s 1-0 win could’ve gone either way, while the 3-1 win the season before was riddled with missed Hammers chances.

Can we expect the same? Truth be told, this is such a poor Irons side that it’s hard to predict anything other than a home win. Yet, taking history into account, it might not be as straightforward as most will think.

Score Prediction?

Arsenal 3-1 West Ham – Antonio to score.