Arsenal match preview

Hillsborough tribute

• Tuesday marks the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, and as such, both teams will be showing their respect to Liverpool FC and the families of the 96 people who lost their lives on that tragic day.

• Approximately five minutes before kick-off, mascots from Arsenal and West Ham United will emerge from the tunnel carrying a red wreath in the shape of 96. The mascots will then proceed to lay the wreath onto the centre spot before heading back to the tunnel.

• Once the players have walked out onto the pitch and undertaken the customary pre-match handshakes, there will be a period of silence observed before kick-off. After the period of silence, the wreath will be carried off by mascots from the two clubs before being laid in-between the respective technical areas.

Introduction

• West Ham United make the short trip across London to Emirates Stadium on Tuesday night for a Barclays Premier League fixture with Arsenal.

• The Hammers come into the game having put up a good fight before ultimately going down to a 2-1 defeat against Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground last time out.

• Sam Allardyce's side did however enjoy success on their last away league outing when they recorded a 2-1 victory against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.

• The east Londoners head into the match almost certain of their place in the Premier League for next season, having accumulated 37 points with five games left to play.

• When these two sides met earlier in the season, Carlton Cole gave West Ham the lead before a Theo Walcott double and a goal from Lukas Podolski sunk the home side.

• Arsenal had moved to the top of the table after the aforementioned win in December, but they now find themselves fighting for a top four finish.

• The Gunners have failed to win any of their last four league outings and were soundly beaten 3-0 by Everton at Goodison Park last time out.

• Arsene Wenger's team have also drawn their last two league matches at home, with a 1-1 draw against Manchester City and a 2-2 draw with Swansea City putting the buffers on their title challenge.

• The Gunners did however reach the FA Cup final on Saturday after they beat Wigan Athletic on penalties .

Team news

West Ham United

• Joey O'Brien is back in full training with the rest of the squad as he steps up his return to fitness following a dislocated shoulder.

• Marco Borriello is still absent with a calf injury, while George McCartney tweaked a hamstring against Sunderland and will have his fitness assessed.

• James Collins missed the match against Liverpool and looks likely to miss out on Tuesday night, while Kevin Nolan is a doubt with a hamstring problem.

Arsenal

• Theo Walcott and Abou Diaby (both ACL) are Arsenal's long-term injury absentees.

• Jack Wilshere (ankle), Mesut Ozil, Ryo Miyachi (both hamstring), Laurent Koscielny (calf) and Serge Gnabry (knee) are all doubts.

Last time out

West Ham United 1-2 Liverpool
Barclays Premier League
5 April 2014

West Ham United: Adrian, Reid, Nolan (Nocerino 65), Tomkins, Armero, Carroll, Taylor (Jarvis 78), Noble, Demel, Diame (C Cole 85), Downing
Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, J Cole, Potts, Johnson
Goal: Demel 45

Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Monreal (Gibbs 63), Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Ramsey (Kallstrom 113), Oxlade-Chamberlain, Arteta, Cazorla, Podolski (Giroud 68), Sanogo
Subs not used: Szczesny, Jenkinson, Akpom, Eisfeld
Goal: Mertesacker 82

Previous meeting

Arsenal scored three times in eleven second half minutes to come from behind to beat West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground on Boxing Day. The home support were on their feet just 50 seconds after half-time, when Carlton Cole tapped the ball home after Wojciech Szczesny fumbled it into the striker's path. The Hammers led until the 68th minute when Theo Walcott equalised, three minutes before putting his side in front. Lukas Podolski came off the bench to put the finishing touches on the win with 79 minutes on the clock.

West Ham United 1-3 Arsenal
Barclays Premier League
26 December 2014

West Ham United: Adrian, O'Brien (Demel 63), Collins (Rat 38), Tomkins, McCartney, Noble, Diame, J Cole, Nolan (Taylor 75), Jarvis, C Cole
Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Collison, Maiga, Diarra
Goal: C Cole 46

Arsenal: Sczcesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Ramsey (Podolski 65), Arteta, Walcott, Ozil (Flamini 81), Cazorla, Giroud (Bendtner 85)
Subs not used: Fabianski, Monreal, Jenkinson, Gnabry
Goals: Walcott 68, 71, Podolski 79

Last six meetings

(Premier League unless stated)

26 December 2013 West Ham United 1-3 Arsenal
23 January 2013 Arsenal 5-1 West Ham United
6 October 2012 West Ham United 1-3 Arsenal
15 January 2011 West Ham United 0-3 Arsenal
30 October 2010 Arsenal 1-0 West Ham United
20 March 2010 Arsenal 2-0 West Ham United

Overall record v Arsenal (all competitions) W 33 D 38 L 57

Ten-year record

West Ham United

2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted to Premier League via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points - relegated to Championship)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted to Premier League via Play-Offs)
2003/04 Division One 4th (74 points)

Arsenal

2012/13 Premier League 4th (73 points)
2011/12 Premier League 3rd (70 points)
2010/11 Premier League 4th (68 points)
2009/10 Premier League 3rd (75 points)
2008/09 Premier League 4th (72 points)
2007/08 Premier League 3rd (83 points)
2006/07 Premier League 4th (68 points)
2005/06 Premier League 4th (67 points)
2004/05 Premier League 2nd (83 points)
2003/04 Premier League 1st (90 points)

Old boys

• Guy Demel spent a season with Arsenal as a youngster, joining the Gunners as a 19-year-old in 2000. However, the right-back did not make a first-team appearance for Arsenal and joined German club Borussia Dortmund the following summer.

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

Background

• West Ham United have faced Arsenal 128 times in Premier League, Football League and the domestic knockout competitions. The Hammers have won 33, the Gunners have won 57 and there have been 38 draws.

• West Ham United's biggest win over Arsenal came on 7 March 1927 when a Vic Watson hat-trick helped secure a 7-0 Division One win for the Hammers at the Boleyn Ground.

• West Ham United defeated Arsenal 8-2 in the first meeting between the two clubs on Christmas Day 1915. Syd Puddefoot scored five times in the fixture, which was played in the war-time London Combination principal tournament.

• Including war-time competitions, the Hammers have met the Gunners a staggering 165 times, with West Ham United winning 48, Arsenal winning 74 and there being 43 draws.

• The third and most-recent time that West Ham United won the FA Cup was against Arsenal, with the Hammers winning 1-0 at Wembley on 10 May 1980. The 1980 final is also the last time a team outside the top-flight has won the competition.

• Five of West Ham United's first eight games against Arsenal were in the FA Cup, with just three of the encounters coming in the league.

• West Ham United became the final visiting team to win at Arsenal's old Highbury home when they chalked up a 3-2 Premier League success on 1 February 2006.

• The Hammers then became the first away side to win to win at Emirates Stadium, recording a memorable 1-0 Premier League win on 7 April 2007.

• West Ham United midfielder Mohamed Diame and Arsenal midfielder Abou Diaby were team-mates at the famous Clairefontaine Academy near Paris as youngsters.

• Twenty players have made their West Ham United debuts against Arsenal. Harry Hodges was the first in a 4-1 Division One defeat at Highbury on 10 September 1923, with Wayne Bridge the most recent in a 3-0 home Barclays Premier League defeat on 15 January 2011.

• Ron Cater, Almeric Hall and Ken Bainbridge all made their Hammers' bows in a 6-0 FA Cup third-round first-leg victory over Arsenal at the Boleyn Ground on 5 January 1946. Hall scored twice and Bainbridge once.

• Ray Houghton made his one and only West Ham United appearance as a substitute in a 2-0 Division One defeat at Arsenal on 1 May 1982.

• Steve Jones made his second West Ham United 'debut' in a 2-0 Premier League defeat at Arsenal on 17 August 1996.

• The other players to have made their West Ham United debuts against Arsenal include John Morton (March 1932), Phil Woosnam (November 1958), Pat Holland (April 1969), Clyde Best (August 1969), Bobby Gould (November 1973), Danny Williamson (April 1994), Les Sealey (September 1995), Bernard Lama (March 1998), Gary Breen (August 2002), Dean Ashton (February 2006), Jack Collison (January 2008), Fabio Daprela and Anthony Edgar (both January 2010).

Referee

• Tuesday's referee will be Kevin Friend.

• A member of the Select Group of Premier League officials, Friend took charge of the 2012 FA Community Shield between Chelsea and Manchester City.

• He began officiating in the Leicestershire Senior League and Midland Football Alliance before being promoted to the National List of Assistant Referees in 2000 and the National List of Referees in 2003.

• He was promoted to the Select Group ahead of the 2009/10 season and took charge of his first Premier League fixture on 20 September 2009, with Wolverhampton Wanderers beating Fulham 2-1.

• Friend did not referee West Ham at all in the Barclays Premier League last season, but has taken charge of the Hammers once this season during a 1-0 defeat against Hull City back in September 2013.

• Friend was also in charge for the SBOBET Cup victory over Spanish side Deportivo La Coruna in August 2010 and the pre-season visit of Portuguese side Pacos de Ferreira last August.

• Friend will be assisted by Harry Lennard and Matthew Wilkes, while the fourth official will be Chris Foy.

General information

• A clear night is expected on Tuesday at the Emirates, with temperatures around 10C (50F).

• West Ham United's allocation of tickets for this fixture are SOLD OUT.

• If you're travelling to the game via the London Underground, click here for travel updates.

• Travel updates on the Greater Anglia train service are available by clicking here.