Arsenal v. West Ham: points, points, points

Arsenal welcome West Ham to the Emirates today with a chance to win their third consecutive Premier League match. If they do, it will be Arsenal’s first three-game league winning streak this season, which is both totally believable given this season’s struggles and extremely strange given how successful Arsenal have generally been. Another weird one: the Gunners are the only remaining unbeaten team in the league in 2020.

David Moyes’ West Ham is struggling. They are outside the relegation zone on goal difference alone and are 1-1-3 in the last five. They’ve conceded the fourth-most goals in the Premier League, haven’t kept a clean sheet since New Years’ Day, and have been shipping goals lately.

Lucas Torreira (fractured ankle) joined Sead Kolasinac (shoulder) and Calum Chambers (knee) on the long-term injury list this week. Kieran Tierney (shoulder) has returned to full training. Cedric Soares (knee) is hoping to return to training this coming week.

West Ham may welcome on-loan midfiedler Tomas Soucek back into the lineup today. The Czech international was sidelined with a hip flexor injury but has made a faster-than-expected recovery and may be available. The Hammers will definitely be without right back Ryan Fredericks (shoulder), attacker Andriy Yarmolenko (thigh), and to nobody’s surprise, Jack Wilshere (hernia).

As Tony wrote in the preview, this is a game Arsenal need to win. West Ham are inconsistent and battling relegation. As we have noted and probably will note ad nauseam, Arsenal have a chance to salvage the season with a late run; the Gunners are just five points off 5th with a game in hand. They’ve got some tough Premier League fixtures and some eminently winnable ones. Today’s match falls into the latter category.

Lineups:
Arsenal - Leno, Sokratis, David Luiz, Pablo Mari, Saka, Xhaka, Ceballos, Ozil, Pepe, Nketiah, Aubameyang

West Ham - Fabianski, Ngakia, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Rice, Fornals, Bowen, Antonio, Haller

WHAT: Arsenal vs West Ham
WHERE: The Emirates Stadium
WHEN: Saturday, March 8th 10:00am EST/7:00am PST/3:00pm BT
HOW TO WATCH: NBCSN. Stream here.

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