Preview: West Ham United vs Arsenal – prediction, team news, line-ups
|London Stadium forms the backdrop for Wednesday’s Carabao Cup third-round showdown as West Ham United trade tackles with Arsenal in a midweek London derby.
The Hammers will be desperate to avoid a fourth successive defeat in all competitions, especially after their disheartening home loss to Everton last time out.
Fans eager to witness the live action can buy West Ham tickets at Seatsnet.com at competitive prices.
West Ham narrowly sneaked past third-tier side Lincoln City in the third round, emerging 1-0 victors at LNER Stadium.
David Moyes’s troops were handed a tough contest by the League One side and only came out on top courtesy of a 70th-minute winner from Tomas Soucek.
West Ham kicked off the 2023/24 campaign in impressive form, losing just two of their initial 11 fixtures across all competitions.
However, their eye-catching early season form has taken a concerning nosedive after embarking on a poor run of four games without victory in all competitions.
West Ham held Newcastle United to a thrilling 2-2 draw in East London before the international break, but a 4-1 Aston Villa humbling, 2-1 Europa League defeat against Olympiacos and 1-0 home loss to Everton have set off a few alarm bells.
The latter saw both sides cancel each other out in the opening 45 minutes before Dominic Calvert Lewin broke the deadlock six minutes after the restart, with West Ham failing to muster a response.
West Ham are competing on all fronts this season, and managing domestic and continental duties is proving problematic, but the same cannot be said for their in-form visitors.
Arsenal maintained their unbeaten start to the Premier League season following a thumping victory over relegation contenders Sheffield United on Saturday.
Gabriel Jesus, who put in a man-of-the-match performance in the Champions League victory over Sevilla, missed out due to injury. But Eddie Nketiah shouldered the goalscoring burden with aplomb.
The England international bagged his first Premier League hat-trick against the Blades, who also succumbed to a Fabio Vieira penalty and Takehiro Tomiyasu’s maiden goal for Arsenal in a 5-0 rout.
Having consolidated their place in the top four, sitting just two points behind their equally unbeaten North London rivals and league leaders Tottenham Hotspur, Arteta’s men will switch their attention to domestic commitments.
The Gunners saw off the challenge from Brentford in the third round, securing a narrow 1-0 victory over their London counterparts courtesy of an early goal from Reiss Nelson.
Barring their shocking 2-1 defeat to Lens in the Champions League, the Gunners have shown no signs of punching the breaks as they compete for every piece of silverware available this term.
The two-time Carabao Cup winners have failed to succeed in the tournament since their last triumph, which was three decades ago when Paul Merson and Steve Morrow sunk Sheffield Wednesday.
It is fair to say another run to a mid-season piece of silverware is overdue, but they will have to get past West Ham to continue their quest to dethrone title holders Manchester United.
Match Preview
West Ham United
Moyes and his West Ham side felt the disappointment from the club faithful following their defeat to Everton at the weekend and must now find a way to reverse their recent fortunes.
As well as going five games in all competitions without a clean sheet, West Ham’s failure to score against Everton marked the first time this year that they had drawn blanks on home turf.
The Hammers are winless in their three fixtures across all competitions since the international break, and a fourth could be on the cards if they don’t muster a performance that defies the odds.
Their chances of emerging from the fourth-round fixture victorious are as slim as they come, considering they have thwarted the Gunners just twice since 2007.
Failing to win any of their last eight meetings with Arsenal also does little to inspire confidence, and another frustrating evening could be on the horizon for the Hammers.
Arsenal
Unlike their capital rivals, Arteta’s side head into the London derby showdown on the back of a four-match unbeaten streak in all competitions (W3, D1).
The odds of Arsenal extending the impressive run to five matches are firmly in their favour, considering they are historically the dominant force in head-to-head meetings against West Ham.
Since 1906, Arsenal have crossed paths with the Hammers 148 times, emerging victorious 72 times, losing 35 with 41 meetings ending in stalemate.
If their recent record against Moyes’ side is anything to go by, the Gunners could be set for another routine victory over their East London counterparts.
The Gunners have only been eliminated in one of their last six fourth-round ties – losing to Liverpool on penalties in 2019 following an incredible 5-5 draw at Anfield.
However, they will have a score to settle with West Ham after relinquishing a two-goal lead at the London Stadium in April, where a 2-2 draw with the Hammers put another nail in their Premier League title coffin.
Team News
Lucas Paqueta and Edson Alvarez both face Premier League suspensions after picking up their fifth yellow cards of the season in the disappointing defeat to Everton.
However, the pair remain key parts of Moyes’ set-up and are likely to line up against Arsenal, given that their ban does not extend to the Carabao Cup.
The Hammers have been handed a clean bill of health with everyone available at Moyes’ disposal for the midweek showdown.
Lukasz Fabianski is likely to reclaim his place as West Ham’s last line of defence after recovering from illness, while Danny Ings will hope to lead the line in a bid to snap his worrying goalscoring drought.
Arsenal remain without Gabriel Jesus and Thomas Partey, with the pair set to miss a few weeks of action.
Skipper Martin Odegaard could be rested after Arteta revealed he has been carrying a knock in recent weeks, with Fabio Vieira likely to slot in for the Norwegian playmaker.
Aaron Ramsdale is expected to get an opportunity to plead his case in the battle with David Raya, with Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard also pushing for a place in the starting line-up.
West Ham United potential starting line-up:
(4-2-3-1): Lukasz Fabianski; Thilo Kehrer, Angelo Ogbonna, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emerson Palmieri; Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse; Maxwel Cornet, Pablo Fornals, Said Benrahma; Danny Ings.
Arsenal potential starting line-up:
(4-3-3): Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Gabriel Magalhaes, Jakub Kiwior; Fabio Vieira, Jorginho, Kai Havertz; Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Leandro Trossard.
We Say: West Ham United 1-2 Arsenal
West Ham supporters have been handed precious little to be excited about, especially after their side’s recent poor run of form.
Their impressive early season form has slowly started fading into despair, and we envisage another defeat for the Hammers against an Arsenal side keen to challenge across all fronts this season.