Preview - Arsenal

Arsenal's Emirates Stadium

When and where?

Arsenal v West Ham United
Premier League
Wednesday 5 April 2017, 7.45pm BST
Emirates Stadium

What’s the story?

West Ham United’s busy April continues on Wednesday with the short trip to north London to take on Arsenal.

With six games to come this month, the assignments come thick and fast, with Wednesday evening’s game offering an opportunity to end a four-game losing streak.

Slaven Bilic’s men have suffered single goal defeats to Chelsea, AFC Bournemouth, Leicester City and Hull City since the beginning of March, and have to go back to 4 February for their last win, when Andy Carroll, Pedro Obiang and Mark Noble struck in a 3-1 success at Southampton.

With just two points from the six games that have followed, West Ham have dropped to 14th in the Premier League table with 33 points – although they are just three points behind Stoke City in ninth place in a very crowded mid-table section.

Arsenal have had well-documented problems of their own, with their most-recent league win coming just a week after the Hammers’ – 2-0 against Hull on 11 February.

With back-to-back defeats either side of that, and a 2-2 draw at home against Manchester City at the weekend, pressure has intensified on Gunners boss Arsene Wenger as they have slipped away from the head of the table and out of the top four.

In fact, they enter this match seven points in arrears to fourth placed Manchester City and are in danger of seeing a run of 19 years of consecutive UEFA Champions League action come to an end this term.

Sunday’s draw with Manchester City saw plenty of attacking success, but less solidity at the back, as the north Londoners twice came from behind to take a point thanks to Theo Walcott and Shkodran Mustafi.

Team news

Michail Antonio
West Ham United will be handed a boost for Wednesday’s game by the return from injury of Michail Antonio.

The winger missed Saturday’s trip to Hull with a hamstring injury, but has overcome that and is set to take his place in the squad.

Mark Noble could also return to the starting XI after sitting on the bench at the KCOM Stadium, while Diafra Sakho is getting closer and closer to a return.

However, Aaron Cresswell will miss out, having picked up a muscle problem on Saturday, meaning Arthur Masuaku will have an opportunity from the start at left-back.

For Arsenal, Laurent Koscielny is an injury absentee. The Frenchman had to go off against Manchester City with an Achilles problem.

Fellow defender Per Mertesacker and midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey are available.

Last time out

It was an evening to forget for the Hammers when they took on Arsenal in December, as an Alexis Sanchez hat-trick powered the Gunners to a 5-1 victory.

Andy Carroll scored his first goal of the season as a consolation, adding to the Boleyn Ground hat-trick he notched against Arsenal last season.

On their last trip to the Emirates, Cheikhou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate scored to give West Ham a stunning 2-0 win, back on the opening day of the 2015/16 campaign.

Player head-to-head

Olivier Giroud v Andy Carroll

How do I get to the game?

A comprehensive guide to getting to Emirates Stadium can be found here.

Whether you’re travelling to the game by tube, train or road, up-to-the-minute travel news can be found by clicking here.

A cloudy night is in store for Wednesday, with temperature at kick-off of 11C (52F).

How can I watch the game?

This match is not being broadcast live in the UK. However, if you are tuning in from overseas the game could be televised in your territory. Full details can be found in our widget below.

You can follow all the action as it happens right here on whufc.com, with live audio commentary in our Match Centre. We also have social media updates as they happen, in-running stats, photos and more. Get involved in the conversation on social using #ARSWHU.