Match Preview: Arsenal v West Ham; Gunners Look to Kick Off Title Contention

The wait is over. The summer of anticipation is done and now all the games matter. Arsenal’s premier league season gets underway in their home with a visit by West Ham.

I love the start of every season. I love to watch my favorite team play, regardless of the expectations (or lack thereof) but this season, is a little more exciting. For the first time in a long time, Arsenal are real contenders for the title.

We aren’t looking back at the summer and wondering why our best players have left us. Instead we look at a lineup that has remained consistent without losing any players of significance. Instead another key cog in the march to glory has been added in Petr Cech.

All it points to is hope that we are finally ready to be regular fighters for the title.

There is the little matter though of this match. West Ham might actually be a bit of an unknown at this point coming in. Gone is Fat Sam and in his place now resides Slaven Bilic. How West Ham play under Bilic remains to be seen.

Coming into this match he won’t be able to call on the likes of Carl Jenkinson due to the loan agreement with Arsenal. Additionally, Enner Valencia is out and so is Andy Carroll. In fact, I am really hard pressed to identify any real quality with this West Ham team.

Now, that may seem awfully presumptuous of me. Admittedly if the Premier League has shown anything, it’s that anything is possible. Raise your hand if you had Chelsea blowing a 2-1 lead to Swansea? (No, you did not.) So we have to be careful.

However, even under the rigid and “sophisticated” management of Fat Sam, Arsenal were rampant against West Ham last season. At home Arsenal strolled out into a comfortable 3-0 win and away they came away with a 2-1 result which wasn’t as difficult as the score line suggests.

In their last nine meetings Arsenal have beaten West Ham in all league contests and haven’t lost in the last 16 (14W 2D). Given, Chelsea’s stumble it’s imperative that Arsenal get off on the right foot and seal these 3 points.

The problem last season was multi-faceted but simply put we never got going until it was too late and despite our impressive run from December onwards, it mattered little because we out of the running as early as October.

That’s all in the past. At this point all is square and everything about last season is forgotten and forgiven (for now.)

The lingering question then is who starts up top. Does Theo Walcott get the nod or does Olivier Giroud. Both players seem to find the net regularly against the Hammers. For this match though, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the boss resort to Giroud up top with Ramsey and Oxlade-Chamberlain on the wings. Alexis Sanchez is just back and may feature on the bench so the Ox will get the call on the left.

The rest of the squad fills itself out with the starters from last week’s community shield.

Arsenal look set for a good season, it’s all got to start with a good game at home against West Ham. We’ve done pretty well on opening day for the most part. Still there have been hiccups in the past but the expectations were slightly “less” than they are now. Now, Arsenal are expected to compete for a title with the big boys – again. Now, it matters.

Players to Watch:
Arsenal: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Like many of the young English core, he has had an up and down career with injuries keeping him out for a long time. Arsenal truly need him to stay fit and fulfill his potential.

West Ham: Dimitri Payet. With a squad threadbare of talent, he has to be the light to shine the way forward for the Hammers.

Injuries and suspensions:
Arsenal: Rosicky (knee), Welbeck (knee), Wilshere (leg) Sanchez (match fitness)

West Ham: Carroll (knee), Valencia (knee), Jenkinson (ineligible)

Broadcast Information:
UK: Sky Sports 1 13:30
US: NBC Sports SN  08:30 AM EST

YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal 3 – 0 West Ham

MATCH FACTS (Courtesy Opta via FourFourTwo.com)

• Arsenal have lost just one of their last 14 Premier League fixtures on the opening weekend, winning nine (D4).
• West Ham have lost more Premier League games on the opening weekend than any other side (9).
• Arsenal have been shown more opening day red cards than any other Premier League side (6).
• The Gunners have won their last nine league encounters with West Ham and are unbeaten in 14 (W12 D2).
• The Hammers won on their last trip to Highbury in 2005/06 and on their first trip to the Emirates in 2006/07 but have not won at Arsenal in the league since (D1 L6).
• Olivier Giroud has scored five goals in five PL appearances against West Ham, with four of those strikes coming on home soil.
• Theo Walcott has scored more top-flight goals against the Hammers than versus any other opponent (5).
• Petr Cech has posted the best saves to shots ratio (min. 50 saves) of any goalkeeper in the Premier League over the last three seasons (78%)
• Dimitri Payet created the most chances in the top five European leagues in 2014/15 (135).
• West Ham scored 15 headed goals in 2014/15, second only to West Brom (16), while Arsenal conceded the highest proportion of goals to headers (36%)