West Ham United v Arsenal: Premier League – Live | Premier League

PUNISHMENT! Arsenal

28 min: Saka receives the ball on the right side and plays it inside to Ødegaard. The midfielder then puts it in the perfect position for his teammate to run onto. Saka regains possession before playing a simple pass across the six-yard box to Trossard, who heads it into an empty net.

GOAL! West Ham 0-2 Arsenal (Leandro Trossard, 27)

25 minutes: Timber go close to making it two – in what could have been an exact copy of Gabriel’s opener!

Saka steps up to take a corner and the Dutchman drives towards the front post. He sends the ball towards the goal and forces a save from Fabiański.

22 min: Ødegaard gets plenty of time and space to run into the West Ham box before laying the ball off to Saka on his right. The winger goes for goal, but his effort flies wide.

20 minutes: Trossard receives the ball on the left and plays a pass with the outside of his boot to Calafiori in the box, but the left-back is off balance and Fabiański can claim.

17 min: Summerville has the ball in the net for West Ham – but it doesn’t count!

Calafiori sends a bad pass back to Timber and it is intercepted. The ball is then passed through to Summerville, who lobs Raya, but he is immediately flagged for offside.

15 minutes: Aside from that goal, Arsenal haven’t really challenged Fabiański too much so far. West Ham seem to be making life quite difficult for Saka on the right, with several players closing him down quickly whenever he gets on the ball.

12 min: Whatever Gabriel and Saka planned before, that corner clearly worked to absolute perfection!

As the winger takes a slow walk over to the flag, his Arsenal teammates gather at the back of the box. They all run quickly to the front post where Gabriel sends it past Fabiański and into the net!

GOAL! West Ham 0-1 Arsenal (Gabriel, 10)

9 min: Another corner for the visitors. Saka goes over to take it and has a subtle word with Gabriel on the way to the flag. What do they cook?

7 min: Arsenal have a corner and Gabriel makes a slow run into the box. Rice is the man to take it, but West Ham can make a fairly easy clearance at the front post.

5 minutes: Saka wins possession on the right, but Paquetá storms across to win it back. The Brazilian eventually draws a foul from the Arsenal man, much to the delight of the home fans.

3 minutes: Bowen receives the ball on the right and looks to cut into the Arsenal box, but he is cut out by Calafiori.

2 minutes: West Ham manager Julen Lopetegui watches from what appears to be the back of the Director’s Box. Not sure if that’s the best place to sit when trying to manage a team…

Kick-off

Charles Antaki has sent word about the inclusion of Kieran Tierney…

“A little ripple of appreciation for Kieran Tierney as he edges back into contention. Arsenal fans aren’t sure how much affection to invest in him anymore – there was plenty – but he’s what? fourth or fifth in line for the left back role….if and when he goes we will have lots of good memories; not many elite footballers turn up to games with their belongings in a plastic bag so he has that distinction for forever.”

Martin Ødegaard proved once again last week that he is Arsenal’s puppet master. The Gunners have appeared to lose weight in his absence over the past few months, going four games without a win between the end of October and the start of November. But they struck when captain Ødegaard completed his comeback from injury. The Norwegian has the ability to make those around him better on the pitch, which West Ham must be wary of tonight.

These two teams last met at the London Stadium back in February – and it was a miserable day for the hosts. Arsenal cruised to a huge 6-0 win over West Ham thanks to goals from William Saliba, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Magalhães, Leandro Trossard and ex-Hammer Declan Rice.

Will we see a repeat today? Or will West Ham shock Mikel Arteta and Co?

Ahead of today’s match, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said: “I know him (Lopetegui), we are friends, I have great admiration for what he has done in the game. He is from the same area as me in the north of Spain. It is a team that is now in a high level after the big win they had against Newcastle away and it’s always a really tough opponent, we know that.

“(They have) different ways of creating big problems. They are a really physical side, really good in direct play, attacking second balls where they have to dominate the game through the ball. Or when they have the space, they are a really dangerous team. Dead balls, and such individual quality they have, the front players can create at any moment any situation to cause you problems. They are really well trained.”

Elsewhere in the Premier League today

• Wolves 2-4 Bournemouth

• Crystal Palace 1-1 Newcastle

• Nottingham Forest 1-0 Ipswich Town

• Brentford 4-1 Leicester City

Julen Lopetegui will not be in West Ham’s dugout tonight. The 58-year-old picked up his third yellow card of the season during Monday’s clash with Newcastle, meaning he will have to serve a one-match ban against Arsenal.

“The players on the pitch are always the most important,” the manager said during his pre-match press conference. “Players ready to help the team and be able to compete against one of, in my opinion, the best teams in the Premier League. So we have to be ready. I’m not going to be in the dugout and maybe I have to improve , because I have three yellow cards, but it’s done. And sometimes you try to say something, or how you act, or you do an action with your hands.”

Kieran Tierney has been named in the Arsenal squad for the first time since August 2023. The left-back, who spent last season on loan at Real Sociedad, will start on the bench.

I want to hear from you! Be sure to email me with predictions, feelings, thoughts and all that jazz. Where do you want to watch from? Who do you want to watch with? Are you going to other matches this weekend? I want to know!

Mikel Merino and Thomas Partey are both out of the Arsenal squad this evening. Merino is unavailable with a knee problem, while Partey is absent with a muscle problem.

Arsenal fans breathe a sigh of relief as Gabriel is named in the starting line-up for tonight’s match. There had been doubts over his involvement after he limped off against Sporting Lisbon earlier in the week. In true Mikel Arteta style, the manager was incredibly cryptic about his availability during a pre-match press conference yesterday, but nevertheless – and this is not entirely a surprise – he is in from the start.

Meanwhile, Julen Lopetegui names an unchanged squad from Monday’s win over Newcastle.

Keep news

Team news coming soon. Mohammed Kudus is absent for West Ham as he serves the fifth of his five-match ban. Niclas Füllkrug is also out of action with an Achilles injury.

Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu remain unavailable for Arsenal, with Gabriel Magalhães an uncertainty.

Preamble