PREVIEW: Arsenal and West Ham face off in crucial clash at both ends of Premier League
PREVIEW: Arsenal and West Ham face off in crucial clash at both ends of Premier League West Ham United host Arsenal on Sunday afternoon in a game which will have huge repercussions at both ends of the table, no matter the result. Table-toppers Arsenal will travel to the London Stadium knowing that a win would bring them ever so close to securing their first Premier League title since 2004. Three points on Sunday will put Arsenal five points ahead of Manchester City, after Pep Guardiola’s side got past Keith Andrews’ European-chasing Brentford last night, in what turned out to be a relatively comfortable game for City.
If the Gunners can get past West Ham, they would then only face an already-relegated Burnley side and a Crystal Palace team who are likely to be fully focused on their Conference League final, which comes only three days after their final day meeting with Arsenal. The overall feeling at both clubs has changed dramatically over the last week or so. Two weeks ago, Arsenal played out a nervy 1-0 victory over Newcastle as they sat behind Man City in the table, with the atmosphere at the Emirates tense and nervy.
Fast forward to today and Arsenal are back in the driver’s seat in the league and are in a first Champions League Final since 2006. For West Ham, two weeks ago they beat Everton with a last-minute Callum Wilson goal to remain two points ahead of Tottenham, and with only one league defeat in their last six. Now, after a heavy defeat to Brentford while Spurs won convincingly at Villa Park, the momentum has definitely swung.
After Tuesday night’s victory and celebrations at the Emirates, Mikel Arteta will have to refocus his side onto this huge, potentially title-deciding game this weekend. He made it clear in his press conference on Friday that he and his players have all of their attention on Sunday’s game. “We’ll have time to prepare and get ready for that final, but now the focus, the attention, the detail, the energy, everything has to be put into West Ham, there is nothing else there, and we made it very clear.
” Arsenal and Arteta have the opportunity to put themselves into the history books, potentially becoming just the fourth team to win both the Premier League and the Champions League in the same season. This would only add to the pressure on this Arsenal side, who are now six years without a trophy. But Arteta has been clear in his message to his players.