Arsenal came away 2-0 winners when the sides met at the Emirates earlier in the season, with this fixture seeing 2+ goals in 11 of the last 12 head-to-head meetings between the sides.

Both sides are desperate for the three points for different reasons, Arsenal have a real opportunity to move closer to the Premier League title following Manchester City’s slip-up at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, as they drew 3-3 with Everton due to a few costly mistakes which are uncharacteristic of Pep Guardiola’s side at this stage of the campaign.

Arsenal have seen 2+ goals in seven of their last eight domestic matches, and may need more than one goal to secure all three points here, given the desperation of the Hammers to avoid the drop, as well as send Tottenham down and stop Arsenal from clinching the title. West Ham have seen 2+ goals in four of their last five matches, winning two of those.

Viktor Gyokeres is playing really well at the moment, and Arsenal are finally starting to play to his strengths after refusing to do so for most of the season. Gyokeres will never be a pretty player to watch, but the runs he makes are quite effective and allow Arsenal to create space for their more technical players. 

They’re still a little hesitant to play that ball in behind for him, but they are using his runs more regularly now alongside the threat of Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard from other areas of the pitch. Gyokeres netted twice from four shots on target in his most recent Premier League start, as Arsenal put three goals past Fulham - the third of which was also assisted by Gyokeres, marking his most complete performance in an Arsenal shirt so far. 

That brace takes Gyokeres’ tally to 14 for the season in the Premier League across 25 starts, which isn’t a bad return for a forward who is new to the division. He’s had 22 shots on target across these matches (0.94 per 90), and his recent form in particular should spur him on to find the target in this potential title decider for Mikel Arteta’s side.

There aren’t many players more deserving of respect in the Premier League than Jarrod Bowen. He’s been such a consistent player for the Hammers across his seven seasons at the club and has registered 20+ goal contributions in each of his last five seasons, including this campaign, where he’s managed 21 goal contributions in 39 starts across all competitions for West Ham.

Bowen will be crucial to West Ham’s chances of survival. He’s scored eight goals in the Premier League this season and has found the target 25 times across his 35 starts in the competition (0.72 per 90). I think this metric will rise here, given the context that surrounds this game; it’s absolutely massive for West Ham, and I’d be surprised if their talisman did not manage to step up and register at least one effort on target.

If West Ham are to survive in the Premier League this season, it’ll be down to the efforts of Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville, who are easily West Ham’s biggest threats in the final third and do have the capacity to produce a moment of magic from nothing, which is what Nuno Espírito Santo’s side need here if they are to make the relegation battle competitive.

No side has seen more corners in their Premier League games this season than West Ham (391 - 11.17 per game). This is partly due to how bad West Ham have been when it comes to defending set piece situations, with sides looking to exploit this weakness by racking up the corner count. 

However, West Ham can also carry a threat from them, as we saw in their recent 4-0 win over Wolves, in which Konstantinos Mavropanos struck twice from corners. 

Arsenal are a bit further down the list due to how good they are at limiting their opponents' corner count, but are still seeing 9.20 corners per game in the Premier League, which rises slightly to 9.59 corners per game on the road. They racked up eight corners when the sides met earlier in the season, with the game seeing 11 corners overall.

Set pieces have been decisive in the Premier League all season. This campaign has seen more goals from set pieces than each of the last 10 Premier League campaigns, and I think they will play a part in sealing the relegation and title battles, which could go all the way to the end of the season.

Gabriel is always a threat from corners and set pieces, I’d say he’s probably the best centre back in the Premier League when it comes to attacking corners and also making space for himself in the box. His movement is really clever and allows him to lose his marker and get shots off. Arsenal racked up eight corners when they faced West Ham earlier in the season, so we can expect Gabriel to have chances from corners here.

Gabriel has registered seven goal contributions across his 28 starts in the Premier League, which is a respectable total for a centre back, and has scored 4+ goals across each of his last three seasons. He’s averaging 0.86 shots per 90 in the Premier League, and the prominence that set pieces should have here should give Gabriel a good chance of finding the target. 

I like a good narrative, and there are quite a few across the pitch here, but my focus is on former Arsenal centre back Konstantinos Mavropanos - who has already bruised the Gunners before. Mavropanos scored against Arsenal at the Emirates back in 2023, with that 2-0 win for West Ham being one of the key reasons as to why Arsenal’s title charge was derailed that year.

He’s pretty average as a centre back in all honesty, he’s been better towards the end of the season, but I think that’s more due to the changes around him with Axel Disasi and Mads Hermansen stepping into the fold. Mavropanos has scored three goals in the Premier League this season, and has taken 21 shots across these games (0.84 per 90) - so he’s posted pretty similar numbers to Gabriel this term. 

He’s had a shot in each of his last two home games for West Ham, notably scoring twice against Wolves from corners a few weeks ago. West Ham’s main route to goal could be through set pieces here, and Mavropanos is an excellent candidate to make the most of what could be a healthy corner count for the Hammers. 

I love Mateus Fernandes, I think he’s so talented and will develop into a top Premier League midfielder. I’ve had my eye on him all season due to his impressive performances for a side battling at the bottom of the table, and he has the ability to really control games, which is a standout trait of the 21-year-old.

The slight drawback for Fernandes is his disciplinary record; he’s picked up seven yellow cards across his 32 starts for West Ham in the Premier League this season - more than any other West Ham player, while averaging 1.47 fouls committed per 90. He’ll have to be tenacious again here if West Ham want to combat the control that Arsenal are often able to establish in midfield.

He’s picked up four cards across his last 10 Premier League starts for West Ham, showing how his frustration is starting to peak towards the end of the campaign. I can see him lunging into tackles against Eberechi Eze, but also getting frustrated if things start to go against West Ham and they are unable to get a feel of the ball.