Arsenal vs West Ham Predicted Lineups, Preview, Odds & Prediction

This is a matchup between two teams in the same league but existing in completely different realities. Arsenal are coming off a huge win that breathes confidence and life in to a title fight with Liverpool. West Ham have just sacked Manager Graham Potter, which was needed, but shows the club lack direction and leadership which does not give fans great hope that they can stay up. But Nuno Espirito Santo is a proven quality Premier League manager who can create a very well drilled and organised team that is hard to beat, and then he will use the talents of Bowen, Paqueta and Fernandes to win him games. Arsenal currently sit 2nd in the league, 2 points behind Liverpool but can go top with a win over West Ham, as Liverpool play Chelsea later in the 5:30pm kick-off. They had a disappointing start but the win over Newcastle, coming from behind, while Liverpool lost, was big. West Ham have 1 win this season, funnily enough over Nuno’s Forest side before he was sacked, and 5 losses in 6 games. They have conceded a total of 15 goals in 6 games, and fixing the defense and making them a hard team to beat will be Nuno’s first task. Will West Ham see a new Manager bounce here against Arsenal and be able to keep this one tight? Or will Arsenal continue their momentum and get a comfortable win to put the pressure on Liverpool?

• How will Nuno Espirito Santo set this West Ham team up and what will the starting lineup look like?
• Can Arsenal continue the momentum and go top of the table before Liverpool play Chelsea?
• Favourite bet: Arsenal to win (24/100) as part of an accumulator / bet builder!

Find out all of that and much more in our preview of Arsenal vs West Ham. We have a match preview, predicted lineups, team and injury news, live odds, our score prediction and more for this GW7 matchup.

Match Details:

Fixture: Arsenal vs West Ham

Stadium: Emirates Stadium

Date: Saturday 4th October

Kick-off: 3:00 BST

Premier League Head-to-Head Record:

The head-to-head between these two London clubs has been surprisingly even in recent years just looking purely at results. Over their last 5 Premier League meetings, Arsenal have won 2, West Ham have won 2 and there has been 1 draw. Strangely, each teams 2 wins were games at the others home ground.

Each team may have won 2 of the last 5 meetings between these two teams, but Arsenal’s wins have been thrashings, beating West Ham 2-5 and 0-6 at the London stadium in each of the last 2 seasons. West Ham’s 0-1 win last season at the Emirates last season was the nail in the coffin for Arsenal’s title hopes and they might be seeking some form of revenge this weekend.

Arsenal West Ham Last 5 Premier League Results

22/02/25 - Arsenal 0-1 West Ham

30/11/24 - West Ham 2-5 Arsenal

11/02/24 - West Ham 0-6 Arsenal

28/12/23 - Arsenal 0-2 West Ham

16/04/23 - West Ham 2-2 Arsenal

Arsenal Overview and Form:

Arsenal have had an up and down start to their season but last weekends win over Newcastle coming from behind late in the game felt huge; confidence and motivation will be high as they look to close the gap on title rivals Liverpool. The Gunners have won 4 games over Manchester United, Leeds, Nottingham Forest and Newcastle. They lost to Liverpool at Anfield in GW3 and drew with Manchester City at the Emirates in GW5. A mixed bag of results that leaves them 2 points behind Liverpool, but overall Arsenal are playing quite well, with some valid reservations still about level of their chance creation and attack overall while their defence remains elite. Overall Arsenal should only continue to get better as their new signings adapt to a new country and league and continue to build chemistry with their new teammates, and will look to make a statement against a poor West Ham team that has just sacked their manager.

Defensively Arsenal are the best team in the league. Arteta has them so well drilled out of possession and the defensive depth they have at all 4 defensive spots is elite and Raya is one of the 3 best goalkeepers in the league. They have only conceded 3 goals this season, to Liverpool, Man City and Newcastle, and are 1st in xG conceded. Gabriel did embarrassingly flop over and gift Woltemade an easy headed goal last weekend, and Haaland gave both Saliba and Gabriel a torrid time the weekend prior, but overall Arsenal’s main defenders have been very good and young Mosquera looks to be a gem. It will be difficult for this West Ham team to break them down.

Going forward there are still question marks over Arsenal’s attacking principles and whether they can be a truly elite attack under Arteta. They are still yet to create 1.0 xG from open play in a game this season, and there are still questions about their chance creation levels from open play with a majority of Arteta’s favoured lineups. While they are so dominant from set pieces, that did not carry their attack through 38 games last season. A stoppage time goal from a corner got them a late win against Newcastle but relying on set pieces is not sustainable. They will need to let the handbrake off as Arteta said. Eze has been a massive bright spark when he has started and you can see the added threat he brings to Arsenal as a passer, dribbler and long range shot taker. That was exemplified in his pass for the Martinelli goal against Man City. Saka returning to full fitness and Gyokeres continuing to adjust to the league should all help Arsenal’s attack continue to improve as we get deeper in to the season. A leaky West Ham defence could provide Arsenal the perfect opportunity to put in a dominant attacking performance – one that puts the league on notice.

Arsenal will look to, and should, dominate possession and the ball in this game, and should be able to pen West Ham back and establish territory in their half, and dominate the chance creation battle until West Ham’s defence caves. I would expect Arteta to go with a slightly more attacking lineup than he has in recent weeks. They will look to smother any counter attacks West Ham hope to get joy out of with the 2 centre-backs and the Zubimendi-Rice double pivot. This is a game Arsenal should dominate all phases of and win comfortably.

West Ham Overview and Form:

West Ham have arguably been the worst team in the league from a pure performance perspective this season, despite Wolves sitting 3 points behind them in last. The clubs higher ups had no choice but to sack Graham Potter, there was little hope moving forward and there was little sign of progress each week from the team. Things were not improving. The change needed to be made and bringing in Nuno Espirito Santo is for once a smart move from the club. Nuno should build a team that is capable of being tough to beat and then relies on the attacking talents of the likes of Bowen, Paqueta, Fernandes and Fullkrug to win them tight games. West Ham have 1 win out of 6 league games, 4 defeats and 1 draw. Things will need to change quickly if they are to avoid relegation this season.

Defensively is where West Ham have been a catastrophe. They have only kept 1 clean sheet this season, and have conceded 16 goals in 6 games overall. They have conceded the 7th most xG this season, so there is some hope that Nuno can fix the structure and get the defensive personnel playing better and with more confidence. The protection from the midfield has also been lacking and Nuno immediately corrected this by bringing in Magassa to play the deepest midfield spot instead of Ward-Prowse or Soucek. He chose to play Paqueta and Fernandes in more advanced midfield roles ahead of Magassa against Everton, and both, particularly Fernandes, do offer legs, and do press well and work off the ball, so you aren’t losing much defensively compared to Ward-Prowse or Soucek being in the midfield but get much more in possession. Making West Ham more difficult to break down and beat will be key in their bid to stay up this season.

As an attacking unit, West Ham have been well below par and have definitely underperformed given their attacking talent in the likes of Bowen, Paqueta, Fernandes, Summerville and their budding star left-back Diouf. They have only scored 6 goals in 6 games, going scoreless in 3 of their 6 league games and are currently 14th in xG. This is something Nuno will have to improve and he should. While his Forest team’s were never high volume chance creation teams, they built a platform in games and would always create enough and Nuno provided the tactical platform that allowed Wood, Elanga, Gibbs-White and Hudson Odoi to all thrive. He can do the same with Bowen, Fullkrug, Summerville, Paqueta, Fernandes and Diouf. Scoring against this Arsenal defence will prove difficult but West Ham have the attacking talent to do it, and that would provide a boost of confidence the team needs.

Overall, Nuno and West Ham will look to defend deep and to be very compact and difficult to play through. Nuno will hope if they can get through the first 20 minutes, the team will settle on the ball and they will start to be able to create counter attacking situations from defending well in a mid to low block. Defending set pieces will be paramount, and if they can battle with Arsenal physically and make them recycle the ball outside the edge of the box and whip crosses in, West Ham might find success keeping Arsenal out for long enough that they feel they can get something from this game.

Match Betting Odds:

Arsenal: 24/100 (Great value and favourite bet)

Draw: 24/5

West Ham: 10/1

Both Teams to Score Odds: 

Yes: 6/5 (Great value)

No: 4/6 

Player to Score Odds:

Gyokeres: 4/6

Saka: 11/8

Betrino is currently offering over 10% better value on Both Teams to Score compared with the average market line at most major sports books!

 

Lineups will be updated throughout the week in live time as and when injury and lineup news is announced.

To head back to our main predicted lineups hub, click here.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup:

Arsenal Predicted Lineup GW7

GK - Raya

RB - Timber

CB - Saliba

CB - Gabriel

LB - Calafiori

CM - Zubimendi

CM - Rice

AM - Eze

RW - Saka

LW - Martinelli

ST - Gyokeres

Arsenal Team News:

Arteta speaking on Friday revealed “We will have to wait and see after training [with Gabriel]. We will have to see how everyone is, but we are not too concerned about him.” It is hard to take Arteta at his word when it comes to injuries, and Mosquera has been so good that he would be comfortable starting him alongside Saliba if there was any concern with Gabriel, but if Gabriel is fit to start he likely will.

He also revealed that “[Piero Hincapie] will be available after the international break, this game came too fast… Kai [Havertz], Noni [Madueke] and Gabi [Jesus] are the same.” No major updates there outside of a concrete date on Hincapie’s return.

Odegaard returned to the squad against Newcastle and made a cameo off the bench. I expect him to remain on the bench against a West Ham team that you can afford to play Eze as the 10 against with Martinelli out wide. Odegaard could potentially start with Eze at LW.

Ben White started against Olympiacos which likely means Timber starts this weekend against West Ham.

Noni Madueke has reportedly picked up a knee injury that will keep him sidelined for a short while. There were reports on X that he had torn his ACL but those were unfounded, and it is a less serious injury. Speaking on Friday, Arteta only said “No update [on Noni Madueke] yet”.

We have heard little news about Havertz potential return date. Hincapie also has reportedly picked up a knock that kept him out of the Man City game. We await further information on that injury.

Arsenal Players to Watch:

Timber: Will likely start in this game after White started the CL game midweek.

Gabriel: Not a major concern, should start.

Odegaard: Could return to start, but tactically may not be the best fit for this game.

Eze: Will start either LW or in the 10. He is a key player for Arsenal now.

Martinelli: If Eze starts in the 10, he will likely start at LW.

West Ham United Predicted Lineup:

West Ham Predicted Lineup GW7

GK - Areola

RB - Wan-Bissaka

CB - Kilman

CB - Mavropanos

LB - Diouf

CM - Magassa

AM - Paqueta

AM - Fernandes

RW - Bowen

LW - Summerville

ST - Fullkrug

West Ham Team News:

Speaking Friday, new Manager Nuno Espirito Santo revealed that “(Yesterday) we worked with 22 boys. (Today) is the day that we make decisions. Todibo, last week, he didn’t train all the sessions; he was not involved. Now he’s involved. Let’s wait and see”. The Hammers squad is in good nick health-wise.

Nuno continued to say “(Aaron Wan-Bissaka) the same, the same. Thank God this week has been good, they are recovering.”

Everton on Monday was the first data point for Nuno’s preferred starting lineup in the Premier League as West Ham manager. He made some needed and smart changes from what Potter opted for this season. Magassa the French defensive midfielder signed this summer from Monaco was thrust into the starting XI and impressed. The legs, athleticism and defensive ability was a breath of fresh air in this West Ham midfield. He will start again.

While Nuno opted to go with Walker-Peters on Monday, Wan-Bissaka was not fit. He is now fit and I think Nuno could mould Wan-Bissaka in a similar way to the way he moulded Aina at Forest and have them play similar roles. He will need to improve Wan-Bissaka’s positional and back-post defending which has always been a weakness, but if he can, then you have a top defensive full-back just as Aina now is.

Mavropanos and Kilman will start at centre-back and obviously budding star left-back Diouf will start.

Nuno loved and got the best out of a true traditional number 9 in Wood and Fullkrug is of the same profile of striker and as we thought, Nuno opted to start him. He will likely start consistently under Nuno.

West Ham Players to Watch:

Wan Bissaka: Could have a revival under Nuno.

Walker-Peters: Has been the starting right-back but that could change under a new Manager.

Magassa: Exactly what this midfield needed. Should become a consistent starter.

Summerville: Nuno did like playing 2 true wingers in Hudson-Odoi and Elanga/Ndoye during his time at Forest so Summerville could be his preferred left-winger.

Fullkrug: Nuno liked having a true striker in Wood at Nottingham Forest. Fullkrug is the best Wood approximation.

Arsenal vs West Ham Preview & Predicted Score:

I believe Arsenal will set up in a bit more of a 4-2-3-1 with Eze as a true 10 against West Ham, somewhat similarly to the set up against Newcastle. In Nuno’s first game in charge vs Everton on Monday night, Nuno used a 4-1-4-1 which is essentially a hybrid 4-3-3 system to good effect, getting West Ham a much needed point away from home.

Arsenal will look to dominate West Ham physically, and not allow them to work their way into the game or build confidence at all. They will look to control possession and the tempo, pen West Ham back in their own half and pepper West Ham’s box with touches and their goal with shots. Arteta and Arsenal will feel this is a game they should dominate in all phases, and that will include creating a good amount of quality chances against one of the weaker defences in the league and putting the game to bed in the first half.

West Ham will look to defend resolutely in a compact low block and to try to win as many duels as possible and to break the game up, which will hopefully allow them to build a foothold in the game and also to build transition opportunities where they can get Bowen, Paqueta, Fernandes and Diouf running at Arsenal defenders in space. It will be a tough task but Nuno will feel if he can keep this one close, and go in at half time level, his side might be able to take something from this game.

While I can see a West Ham team with a new manager bounce, that should look far more solid defensively, making Arsenal work a bit harder for their chances and goals than they would have under Potter, I still don’t see West Ham keeping this that close or making Arsenal sweat too much. I can see West Ham making a fight of it, and punching back, and getting a goal, but Arsenal overall should be too strong, and should win this one fairly comfortably.

Score Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 West Ham