Highbury
Saturday 3rd March, 2001West
Ham28Games27 ATTACKING 44Goals
scored351.57Ave goals per game1.3052%Shooting Accuracy45%11%Goals
to shots
%10% PASSING 12463Passes967176%Pass
completion %69% DEFENDING 73%Tackle
success rate %71%29Goals conceded321.04Ave goals conceded per
game1.19 DISCIPLINE 407Fouls34232Yellow
cards462Red cards1
Arsenal v West Ham
After being humiliated 6-1 at Old Trafford last Sunday Arsenal will be looking to stabilise the ship. The Hammers might, in fact, be fearing a backlash but have enough quality in their squad to cause the Gunners a few problems.
Despite only hitting the target once against Manchester United, the North Londoners are still the most accurate marksmen in the top flight with 52% of their efforts hitting the target - one hammering won't make Arsenal a bad side.
The Hammers are currently lying in 13th place, but things are tight in that middle third of the table and they are only nine points off fourth place. In the blustering steeplechase that will be the charge for UEFA Cup places, West Ham could be a dark horse coming up on the rails.
Nigel Winterburn will be returning to his old stomping ground and will be able to do so with his head held high. No defender has attempted more tackles (109) than the former Highbury stalwart and he will be keen to prove a point to an Arsenal manager that has just seen his defence ripped to shreds in their previous game.
The two linesmen could well be as busy as the referee in this game as Thierry Henry and Frederic Kanoute are the players who have been caught offside more times than anyone else - 66 and 50 occasions respectively. However, they are both in the top six when it comes to dribbles and runs attempted so the frustration of the flag is almost certainly overshadowed by the threat they posess to opposing sides.
In fact, if you fancy a bet then Arsenal to win 2-0 with Henry scoring the opener you can get 13/1 with surreysports.com. If you think Kanoute might be the man to add more pressure to the hit-and-miss Arsenal defence then he is 7/1 to score the first goal.
Last weekend was the death knell to the idea that Arsenal could catch Manchester United and now the race for Champions League places starts in earnest.
Aside from United themselves, Arsenal have completed a higher proportion of passes (76%) and have fired off more shots (388) than any other side. A win here against the Hammers is expected but as fans of the East End club will point out, they won at Old Trafford - a topic Arsenal fans would probably like to avoid.
Matt Pomroy
Matchday Referee: M Riley
The life of Riley is a fairly strict one. Mr Riley has handed out 51 yellow cards in the Premiership so far this season and no other referee can beat that total. However, he has only sent off one player which pales next to the actions of 'England's top referee' Graham Poll, who has Poll-Axed seven footballers so far with the might of his red card.
Referee's Name FoulsPenaltiesYellow CardsRed CardsAve Disc pointsM Riley440151143.00
PLAYER HEAD-TO-HEAD
Cole v Winterburn TEAM NEWS Joe Cole should be
back to face Arsenal at the weekend, but Michael Carrick is out
with a hamstring injury. The other internationals - Todorov, Suker,
Hislop and Tihinen - are back in contention after their midweek
travails, but Fredi Kanoute is rated slightly doubtful after
suffering a foot injury. FIRST GOALSCORER ODDS
click odds to place bet Arsenal:
Henry7/2Wiltord9/2Kanu5/1Bergkamp6/1Pires9/1Ljungberg10/1Parlour16/1Vieira16/1Lauren16/1Cole33/1Grimandi33/1Keown40/1Vivas50/1Dixon50/1Stepanovs50/1Luzhny
66/1No Goalscorer17/2 West Ham :
Camara7/1Kanoute7/1Todorov8/1Suker8/1Lampard14/1Cole16/1Carrick20/1S
Pearce
33/1Dailly50/1Stimac50/1Song66/1Winterburn66/1Tihinen66/1Soma66/1Schemmel66/1No
Goalscorer17/2For all these bets + goalcasts go now
to Surrey Sports.comODDS
click odds to place bet4/7 Arsenal win9/2 West Ham win12/5
DrawArsenalCorrect
ScoreWest
Ham6/11-010/111/22-025/17/12-118/110/13-066/110/13-150/128/13-250/125/14-0100/122/14-1100/150/14-2100/150/15-0-50/15-1-100/16-0-100/16-1-17/20-017/26/11-16/116/12-216/150/13-350/1Half-Time/Full
Time11/8ArsenalArsenal16/1ArsenalDraw45/1ArsenalWest
Ham7/2DrawArsenal4/1DrawDraw10/1DrawWest Ham28/1West
HamArsenal16/1West HamDraw10/1West HamWest HamFor all these
bets + much more go now to Surrey Sports.com
By Road:
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