Earn It!

Morning all.

Arsenal travel across the city today to face West Ham at the London Stadium. I still think of “that” Saturday back in 2012 when Great Britain stormed to Olympic success. It’s hard to believe that was 14 years ago.

Anyway, back to football. Both clubs need maximum points today albeit for very different reasons but I only care about Arsenal’s needs which couldn’t be any more clear. Anything other than a win today and it’ll be advantage Man City after their 3-0 defeat of Brentford.

Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke on West Ham:

In recent weeks, Nuno has settled on a 4-4-1-1 with Pablo operating behind Castellanos. West Ham will allow us to have most of the ball, as their possession average of 42.6% is the second-lowest in the division, and try to frustrate us with their compactness before winning the ball back and breaking on us at speed.

Since the turn of the year, they have been well-organised and carried a threat up front; even in defeat at Brentford last weekend, they struck the woodwork three times. So, even if they only put us under sporadic pressure, they do have players in form who can hurt us.

Wing flyers Jarrod Bowen and Crysencio Summerville are excellent at carrying the team up the pitch. Nuno’s side lean most of their attacks to the England man’s right wing, from where the Hammers skipper has consistently impacted games, with eight goals and 10 assists. When Bowen cuts in on his left foot, David Raya will need to be on his toes. 

However, having conceded 17 times from dead-ball situations, West Ham share the worst record in the Premier League with Liverpool and Bournemouth. Perceived as a little fragile in the air, they have leaked 16 headed goals, the most of all 20 top-flight teams, and given we have scored an all-time record 17 times from corners in the Premier League, this is an area we can exploit.

This group of Arsenal players have proved over the season that when they are singing off the same footballing hymn sheet, they really are capable of beating the best in the game. Consistency hasn’t always been apparent though as in a few games, despite creating enough opportunities to score during games, they’ve gone begging which has cost us points. I’m not for one minute suggesting we should be winning every game, that would be arrogant as some days, opponents are simply better on the day. That’s sport and that’s life in general.

Now we’re at the end game moment. A time when three big performances are required along with nine points. That in itself should be motivation enough for the players to perform at 💯% or as near as mentally and physically possible. The desire to see this Premier League chase over the line should come from within each and every player because there is no guarantee when such an opportunity will come again.

As said, we know West Ham are fighting for Premier League survival and you can bet their fans will be right behind the team so it’s not going to be an difficult afternoon for Mikel Arteta’s players but nothing in life comes for free, for most of us anyway, so Arsenal will have to get out there this afternoon and play like a team which wants the win. Fight hard for every ball, every goal scoring opportunity, the three points and above all else, the name on the front of their shirts. The Arsenal!

Catch up in the comments.