Arsenal favourites to beat West Ham despite poor form

Arsenal simply have to get back to winning ways when they take on West Ham at the London Stadium this evening.

The Gunners are on their worst winless run since 1977 after making it nine games in all competitions without a win following last Thursday night’s 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion at the Emirates.

Interim boss Freddie Ljungberg is under pressure to get things back on track as Arsenal now sit 11th in the Premier League table and 10 points adrift of the top four so they are in real danger of being cut off in the chase for the top four.

In fact, another defeat tonight against West Ham would leave Arsenal just four points above the relegation zone as we approach the half-way stage of the season so this campaign could turn into a full blow crisis if they’re not careful.

However, West Ham are also in desperate need of a positive result this evening as the Hammers are 16th in the table and just one point outside the bottom three so Manuel Pellegrini is under pressure to get back to winning ways after losing 2-0 to Wolves last time out.

Team news

Arsenal have no fresh injury worries to contend with but they’ll once again be without Dani Ceballos as he’s still recovering from a hamstring injury that’s hampered him for the past five weeks.

Rob Holding is a doubt with a knee injury that forced him to miss the last two games but Kieran Tierney and Nicolas Pepe are expected to return to the starting line-up tonight.

West Ham are set to welcome Michail Antonio back into the squad after he recovered from a groin injury while Jack Wilshere is available to face his former side but Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Lanzini remain on the sidelines.

Expected line-ups

West Ham: Martin, Fredericks, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Rice, Snodgrass, Anderson, Fornals, Antonio.

Arsenal: Leno, Tierney, Sokratis, Luiz, Bellerin, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Ozil, Pepe, Aubameyang, Lacazette

Betting tips

Arsenal are the even money favourites to win the game with many of the bookmakers and UK online casino sites, despite their shocking recent form. If you fancy their run to continue then you can back West Ham to win at 5/2 or the draw is available at odds of 3/1.

Arsenal’s defence is shocking but we’ve still been scoring goals so I expect an entertaining game this evening. Over 3.5 goals at even money looks a good bet while our prediction of 3-1 Arsenal can be backed at 10/1.

Predicted score

West Ham 1-3 Arsenal: Arsenal have completely lost their way and Ljungberg needs to get their confidence back as soon as possible if they’re to turn things around. The Gunners have looked slightly more dangerous going forward since the Swede took over but the defence continues to be their Achilles heel.

The good news for Arsenal is this has traditionally been a good fixture for them as they’ve won seven of the last 10 away trips to West Ham and the hosts are in poor form themselves right now. If Arsenal can start well and get themselves ahead, I can see them coming away with the three points.