Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton agree over Arsenal vs West Ham predictions as 'tighter' claim made
A look at what the pundits think about Arsenal’s Premier League clash with West Ham.
Arsenal and West Ham are back in action on Saturday when they face off at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners have had a fine week or so, coming back to defeat Newcastle United last weekend to cut the gap to Liverpool to two points, and they then went on to defeat Olympiacos in the Champions League.
As for West Ham, they appointed Nuno Espirito Santo last weekend, and fans will be excited to see what the Iron look like after a full week working with their new boss. West Ham did draw with Everton on Monday, but Santo had hardly unpacked by the time that game took place, so there was little to learn despite the relatively positive result.
Arsenal will be well aware of the new manager bounce factor here, and they will be motivated by the potential opportunity to close the gap to Liverpool further, or perhaps leapfrog them, with the Reds facing Chelsea away from home.
Predicting the fixture, BBC Sport’s Chris Sutton wrote: “West Ham have won on their past two visits to Emirates Stadium but I don't look at Arsenal at the moment and see a team that is going to drop points. The Hammers grew into the game against Everton in Nuno Espirito Santo's first match in charge but I am expecting the Gunners to be too strong for them.
“Arsenal are a powerhouse at the moment and their squad depth is frightening. Defensively they are outstanding - they have conceded only three goals in six league games, the fewest in the Premier League - and this should be comfortable for them. Sutton's prediction: 3-0.”
Elsewhere, Match of the Day pundit Alan Shearer predicted in his Metro predictions: “Nuno will make West Ham a lot tighter, but I still think it’ll be a home win here. Look at the options that Arsenal now have, the result they got against Newcastle last week and in the Champions League. I’ll go for a home win. Prediction: Arsenal win.”
The Gunners will be heavy favourites going into this one, but Santo has a habit of ensuring his teams are hard to score against, and it will be interesting to see if he and his Iron side can frustrate Arsenal here.
Magassa on Arsenal challenge
West Ham midfielder Soungoutou Magassa has been speaking about this weekend’s challenge against Arsenal. He told the club site: “It went very well [Nuno’s arrival]. He's a coach who seems close to his players, who gives us a lot of energy, who encourages us, and wants us all to be together.
“I think that we can be very positive for the rest of the season. It's a system I'm used to playing in. I like playing with two sixes or the one six. I feel comfortable in both systems. There's still a lot of work to be done. I think we're going to put some good things in place so we can play well, produce some great football, perform well and win matches.
“They (Arsenal) are a big team. I’ve already played against them twice, once in a friendly and once in the UEFA Champions League with Monaco, so I'm looking forward to it, and we're going to do everything we can to give our best on the pitch.
“For the next game, we want to win, of course. There are points to take, not to lose. In this league, you can't lose. You have to take all the points you can. We're not where we deserve to be [in the table], and there's still a lot of work to do. We're going to go there with determination [to win], work hard and show discipline.”