It`s going to be a tough match for Arsenal who face a West Ham side that haven’t lost any of their last 9 games. Even though they are unbeaten, the Hammers have dropped a spot in the Premier League table which will make the game even harder. Slaven Bilic is looking to motivate the team into qualifying for either the Europa League or the Champions League given the small gap between his side and United and City. According to the BBC Bilic is also determined to win given the massive rivalry between the Londoners, a rivalry dominated by the Gunners up until now. Looking at the last 10 games between the two clubs, Arsenal have come out on top with 9 wins out of ten games. Unfortunately, West Ham’s single victory came this season. Surely, it will be even more motivation for Wenger’s side who are also working hard to stay close to Leicester. When it comes to Boleyn Ground confrontations – which from 2016 will be Olympic Stadium confrontations – Arsenal dominate the last 10 years. West Ham haven’t won a single time against Arsenal while playing at home since 2006 so that is promising for the Gunners.

Wenger will not treat the game as being more special than any other game left out of this season. Even though aside from the match against Manchester City, this is probably the hardest game left out of this season, the Frenchman is focusing on the end result – end result meaning the end of the season as he said: “As long as mathematically it’s possible, there’s a strong possibility [of catching Leicester]. We know we need nearly the perfect run – I could have cut the ‘nearly’ out. We do not only look in front of us, we look behind us as well, because we are chased by a group of teams who can make it very difficult for us.”

In terms of lot West Ham should be in full effect. Arsenal will have most of their lot available as well with the usual exceptions. I say usual because Wilshere, Rosicky and Cazrola have been out for a while and will probably remain in practice-only mode until the end of the season. Cech is expected to return as well as Ramsey. Oxlade-Chamberlain is unavailable and Flamini will probably be featured on the bench.

We are going for a score prediction of: West Ham 2–3 Arsenal

Here are the predicted line-ups…

Arsenal Starting XI:

West Ham Starting XI: