Arsenal match preview

Barclays Premier League
West Ham United v Arsenal
Boleyn Ground
Sunday 25 October 2009
4.15pm
Referee: Chris Foy

WHUTV - LIVE AUDIO COMMENTARY

• West Ham United will be looking to get back to winning ways when they play host to Arsenal in their fourth home fixture of the 2009/10 Barclays Premier League season.

• The Hammers are seeking their first home league victory of the season, having lost to Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool and drawn with Fulham in their opening three matches at the Boleyn Ground.

• The game will mark the culmination of a week of action to mark the 'Kick It Out (racism) message. Both sets of players will be wearing t-shirts in support of the cause during the pre-match warm up.

• Arsenal have won two and lost two of the four league matches they have contested away from the Emirates Stadium, winning at Everton and Fulham and losing at Manchester United and Manchester City.

• West Ham are looking for their first win and first goal in five matches against the Gunners, having lost three times and drawn once since winning 1-0 at the Emirates Stadium on 7 April 2007.

• Gianfranco Zola's side go into the weekend 19th in the Barclays Premier League table, having mustered five points from eight matches. Arsenal, meanwhile, sit fourth, with 18 points from eight games played.

• Sunday's match will be the 105th league meeting between the two sides. Arsenal have won 46, West Ham United have won 27 and there have been 31 draws.

Last time out

Saturday 17 October 2009
Barclays Premier League
Stoke City 2-1 West Ham United

West Ham United: Green, Faubert, Tomkins, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Kovac (Stanislas 83), Noble, Collison (Franco 88), Diamanti (Hines 79), Cole
Subs not used: Kurucz, Spector, Da Costa, Jimenez
Booked: Cole, Faubert, Hines
Goal: Upson 34

Tuesday 20 October 2009
UEFA Champions League Group H
AZ Alkmaar 1-1 Arsenal

Arsenal: Mannone, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Clichy, Eboue (Ramsey 83), Song, Fabregas, Diaby, Arshavin, van Persie (Vela 74)
Subs not used Almunia, Silvestre, Merida, Gibbs, Wilshere
Booked: Clichy, van Persie, Vela
Goal: Fabregas 36

Last meeting

• The teams last met at the Emirates Stadium on 31 January this year, when they fought out a goalless Barclays Premier League draw.

• The lineups were:

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Toure, Gallas, Clichy, Eboue (Vela 36), Diaby (Song 89), Denilson, Nasri, Adebayor, Bendtner (van Persie 68)
Subs not used: Fabianski, Ramsey, Djourou, Gibbs
Booked: Diaby, Vela

West Ham United: Green, Neill, Collins, Upson, Ilunga, Behrami, Parker, Noble (Savio 70), Collison, Cole, Di Michele (Boa Morte 83)
Subs not used: Lastuvka, Spector, Lopez, Davenport, Collison
Booked: Collins, Neill

Head to head

Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)

31 January 2009 Arsenal 0-0 West Ham United
26 October 2008 West Ham United 0-2 Arsenal
1 January 2008 Arsenal 2-0 West Ham United
29 September 2007 West Ham United 0-1 Arsenal
7 April 2007 Arsenal 0-1 West Ham United
5 November 2006 West Ham United 1-0 Arsenal

Overall record v Arsenal (all competitions) W 33 D 37 L 50

Next up

• West Ham United will travel to Sunderland for a Barclays Premier League fixture on Saturday 31 October, kick-off 3pm.

• Arsenal will host Liverpool in a Carling Cup fourth-round tie at the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening, kick-off 7.45pm.

Referee

• The referee will be Chris Foy.

• Now 46, Foy started refereeing at the age of 20 in 1983. He joined the Football League list of assistant referees in 1994 and the Premier League assistant referees' list a year later.

• Foy became a Football League referee in 1996 before being promoted to the Premier League list in 2001, taking charge of his first top-flight fixture in December of that year.

• Foy took charge of the 2007 FA Trophy final between Stevenage Borough and Kidderminster Harriers at Wembley on 12 May 2007.

• He returned to the national stadium as fourth official for the 2008 FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff City before refereeing last season's Carling Cup final between Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

• Foy has been actively involved in the 'Don't X The Line' campaign to eradicate abusive or aggressive behaviour from players and spectators at junior and youth matches.

• Foy took charge of three West Ham fixtures last season, refereeing the Hammers' 1-0 defeat at Hull City on 19 October, the 2-0 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur on 8 December and the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on 21 March.

• This will be Foy's third West Ham United match this season, after he took charge of the opening day win against Wolves and the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City on 28 September.

• Foy also took charge of the FA Community Shield match between Chelsea and Manchester United.

West Ham United

• West Ham United are seeking their first home Barclays Premier League victory of the season at the fourth attempt, having lost out narrowly to Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool and drawn with Fulham.

• West Ham United's biggest ever top-flight home win over Arsenal came on 7 March 1927, when the hosts were 7-0 victors. Vic Watson scored a hat-trick, while Joseph Johnson and Jimmy Ruffell were also on target. Arsenal contributed to their own demise by scoring two own-goals. On 5 November 1960, the Hammers ran out 6-0 winners, with Dave Dunmore netting a hat-trick and Andy Malcolm, Phil Woosnam and John Dick each scoring once.

• Carlton Cole is the Hammers leading scorer this season with four goals, all of which have come in the Barclays Premier League. Cole has also had more shots in total (27), on target (16) and off target (11) than any of his team-mates in the Barclays Premier League this season. Cole has also made more defensive clearances (8) than any other West Ham player. Cole, who has eleven goals in his last 20 league appearances dating back to last season, led the way in the scoring charts in the 2008/09 campaign with ten Premier League goals, one in the FA Cup and one in the League Cup.

• Cole has committed more fouls (27) than any other Barclays Premier League player this season.

• Robert Green has played 95 consecutive Barclays Premier League games - more than any other player in the top-flight currently. All being well, he will reach his unbroken century when Everton visit the Boleyn Ground on Sunday 8 November.

• Five players - Junior Stanislas, Mark Noble, Matthew Upson (two), Alessandro Diamanti and Carlton Cole (four) have got on the league scoresheet for the Hammers so far this season.

• Jack Collison made his West Ham United and Premier League debut as a substitute in the 2-0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on New Year's Day 2008.

• West Ham United became the first away team to win at the Emirates Stadium in a competitive fixture on 7 April 2007, when Bobby Zamora's goal and a man-of-the-match display from Green helped the Hammers to secure a vital 1-0 victory.

Arsenal

• The Gunners have scored in every competitive match they have contested this season, netting 27 goals in eight Barclays Premier League fixtures so far this term. In total, Arsenal have scored 40 times in 14 games in all competitions.

• Arsenal's top Barclays Premier League scorers this term are Robin van Persie, Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen, who have each netted four times. The trio, along with Andrey Arshavin, have all scored five times in all competitions.

• Fabregas, with nine, has more assists than any other player in the Barclays Premier League this season.

• Arsenal have hit the woodwork six times in the league this season, the highest total of any team.

• Van Persie has unleashed more shots in total (33), on target (20) and off target (13) than any other Arsenal player in the Barclays Premier League this term.

Team news

• Gianfranco Zola has virtually a clean bill of health for his squad ahead of the game with Kieron Dyer and Danny Gabbidon both taking a full part in training.

• Scott Parker will also return from a one-match suspension but he faces competition for a place in the team from Radoslav Kovac, who impressed in the holding midfield role against Stoke City.

• Guille Franco is also pushing for a start after another full week of training. The Mexican international was a late substitute against Stoke.

• Terry Dixon made his competitive debut for the Hammers as a substitute in Monday night's reserve game with Chelsea as he continues his journey back to full fitness.

• Frank Nouble could also come into consideration after he impressed in that game. The 18-year-old got on the scoresheet with a stunning left-footed strike from distance.

• Long-term absentee Luis Boa Morte (knee) has been back at the club this week as steps up his rehab. Dean Ashton (ankle) remains a long-term absentee with no date set for his return.

• Calum Davenport has spent another week at Chadwell Heath as he continues to build up his strength work.

• Arsenal will definitely be without England forward Theo Walcott, Brazil midfielder Denilson (back) and Switzerland defender Johan Djourou (both knee), while Tomas Rosicky (knee), Eduardo (thigh), Samir Nasri (broken leg) and Nicklas Bendtner (groin) are all doubts.

Old boys

• Matthew Upson joined Arsenal from Luton Town for £2m in May 1997 at the age of 18. Upson made a total of 56 appearances for the Gunners over five-and-a-half seasons before moving to Birmingham City for £1m in January 2003

• Luis Boa Morte was brought to English football from FC Porto in 1997 in a £1.75m deal, making 25 appearances for Arsenal before leaving for Southampton for an initial fee of £500,000 in August 1999.

• Among the players who have represented both clubs are Jeremie Aliadiere, James Bigden, Jimmy Bloomfield, Liam Brady, Dick Curtis, George Burgess, Kaba Diawara, Ted Drake, Stan Earle, Bert Fletcher, Ron Greenwood, Eddie Hapgood, John Hartson, Les Henley, Fergie Hunt, James Jackson, Bernard Joy, Fred Kemp, Tom Lee, Harry Lewis, William Linwood, Fredrik Ljungberg, Roddy MacEachrane, Jimmy Marshall, David Noble, John Radford, Stewart Robson, Charles Satterthwaite, Laurie Scott, Rami Shaaban, Bill Sidley, Bob Stevenson, Davor Suker, Charlie Walker, Nigel Winterburn, Ian Wright and Richard Wright.

General information

• For ticket information click here.

• There are planned engineering works on the London Underground on Sunday. Most notably, the Central line will be suspended between Liverpool Street and Leytonstone, with rail replacement bus services operating instead. Upton Park station and the District line will be operating normally except for between West Kensington and Richmond and West Kensington and Ealing Broadway. Click here for more information.

• The weather forecast for Sunday is for a sunny day, with temperatures expected to peak at around 17C.