West Ham announcement puts dent in Arsenal hopes of mammoth scoreline as perfect storm blows over: opinion

Arsenal have come through a difficult fixture list only a couple of points behind Liverpool in the Premier League who now face the likes of Man City, Man Utd, Aston Villa and Chelsea in their next six games.

It is a golden opportunity for Mikel Arteta’s side to put themselves into a dominant position and to make a real statement of intent ahead of what is a favourable run of games. There have been subtle changes to the Gunners defence, midfield and forward line in terms of reinforcements which has seen a fresher look and the ability to bring on “finishers” and game changers when the starting XI hasn’t been able to get the job done.

Some of the personnel might have changed, but one thing has remained constant since the start of 2025 with Arsenal tipped to go one better this season.

Where Arsenal could cause West Ham pain

Arsenal’s ability to score goals from set-pieces has been much-publicised with a total of 36 since the start of 2023/24 coming from corners (15 more than the nearest competitor) in a facet of their play that has become almost folklore.

It is a statistic that doesn’t happen by accident, but teams still struggle against the variety and quality of delivery as seen against Newcastle United at St James’ Park in their dramatic late win. What would have made things all the sweeter for Arteta and his coaching staff, is that Eddie Howe’s team are no shrinking violets and are loaded with players who can handle themselves physically and in the air.

Next up for Arsenal in the league is West Ham and one statistic must have had Arteta licking his lips before the sacking of Graham Potter. Before the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo as manager, the Hammers couldn’t stop teams from scoring from corners with seven conceded in five games.

That Everton’s goal came from a cross and the second phase of a corner won’t have been lost on the analysts with the new Irons boss having an immediate problem to solve. If he doesn’t solve it quickly, Arsenal could be out of sight by half-time without having to do much work in open play. Arsenal’s ability from set-pieces against West Ham weaknesses under Potter would have delivered a perfect storm for Arteta but Nuno will be working hard this week to stop that from happening this weekend.

What do West Ham need to do to stop Arsenal?

Speaking to London World, former West Ham defender Jonathan Spector had some words of advice for any team trying to stop Arsenal doing what they do best: “First of all, as a player who played both positions (as a full-back and centre-half), I would say it's still the collective. There's always going to be some individual errors that you need to look at and address, but what I would say is if you know where you're conceding chances, the best thing to do is to stop it at the source. What is the opposition doing that you can prevent? If they're isolating full-backs and the wingers, it's too easy for them to get crosses. You've got to find a way to prevent that.

“Maybe it's the full-backs have to get tighter. Maybe they need some support from the wingers to double down. And then, of course, the central defenders have to have that commanding presence in the box and ensure that they're winning everything. It's hard to pinpoint one position, one individual, unless it's just individual errors. I do firmly believe it is the collective would be my answer to that.”

Spector is right, if West Ham want to stop Arsenal, the best way to do it is to stop crosses and not concede set plays, however, not only is this easier said than done, on the occasions that they don’t, they still have to do something that they have struggled to do all season – defend their box.