Nuno Espirito Santo's record vs Arsenal as West Ham prepare for 'tough one'

Nuno Espirito Santo got off to a solid start at West Ham on Monday night, with his new side battling back to pick up a point against an Everton side that has started the season well. Jarrod Bowen scored the all-important equaliser to get the Hammers onto four points for the season.

Santo had limited time to work with his players ahead of the trip to Merseyside, given he was only appointed on the weekend, and it will be interesting to see how the team evolves under his guide over the coming weeks.

These clashes with Everton and Arsenal were seen as very tricky fixtures for obvious reasons, and reports have claimed that West Ham were actually going to hold off on appointing Santo until after them to ensure he had a more comfortable start.

But the Portuguese boss wanted to get to work straight away, and after drawing with Everton, he must now devise a plan to get something from an away clash with a very good-looking Arsenal side, with the Gunners fresh off a comeback away win over Newcastle United, although they are also in Champions League action this week.

Santo has plenty of experience leading teams against Arsenal, though. The new West Ham boss has three wins, three draws and four defeats against the Gunners overall.

He drew against Arsenal with his Nottingham Forest side back in February, but before that, Forest did lose back-to-back games against the Gunners, and Santo also lost his clash with the Gunners as Tottenham boss.

Before that, he beat them in back-to-back games while in charge of Wolves.

Santo on Everton draw

Speaking after his side drew with Everton on Monday night, Santo said: “I said in my first interview [on Sunday] that we have to be a team that has to give fans a reason and I think the boys did it. [There were some] good things and some not so good things, but a lot of things that we have to work on.

“But like I said, the message was simple: ‘Let's compete, every ball is important. Let's be pragmatic when we have to be pragmatic and let's take advantage of what we have up front’, but the work-rate overall of the team was good.

“[Everyone has pulled together and] that's what we want, to create a platform of unity, of knowledge among us so we can help them (the players). The Academy staff and coaching staff have been very helpful because they feel what is the Club, what is important for us.”

Speaking about the upcoming clash with Arsenal, he added: “Now we have to rest, the players have to recover. It's a quick turnaround and then we're going to prepare the next one [at Arsenal on Saturday afternoon]. It's going to be a tough one, but we've got to go.”

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