Arsenal travel to Upton Park this weekend on Saturday - with some defensive questions to answer. The Gunners' rearguard started the season impeccably, conceding just once in four games, but in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City and the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea they were beaten three times by set-pieces.

All of the good work Arsenal defensive coach Steve Bould was credited with in the opening weeks of the campaign has been thrown into disarray by the same old defensive lapses which seem to cost Arsene Wenger's side season in and season out.

The last thing they need is a trip to visit Sam Allardyce and Andy Carroll. The giant Geordie's inclusion in the England squad this week will have given his confidence a boost following recent injury problems, and he will have a point to prove. The kind of point that saw him single-handedly dismantle Fulham on his West Ham debut in a 3-0 victory when Brendan Rodgers' decision to offload him from Liverpool was still fresh in the memory.

Carroll has experience of getting the better of Arsenal, having scored the only goal for Newcastle in a 1-0 win in November 2010, and he is likely to be the focus of West Ham's attacking play as Allardyce attempts to mastermind another famous victory against one of Wenger's slick passing teams.

The West Ham boss has won four and drawn three of his nine Premier League meetings with the Gunners over the years, and after making a steady start to life back in the top flight they will be in confident mood.

Three wins and three clean sheets have seen West Ham make the best start of any promoted side by some distance, and they sit two points better off than Arsenal, who will be eager to get their aspirations of a title tilt back on course. Arsenal's dedication to attacking play dictates that they will come and have a go, and they will be keen to rediscover the free-flowing goalscoring form of their win against Southampton.

The game will be decided by which team has the most potent attacking options on the day and is sure to prove enthralling viewing.

West Ham player to watch: Andy Carroll. Injury has prevented Carroll enjoying a run of games since Liverpool's decision to let Carroll move south, but with the England international likely to lead the line for West Ham all their best play will go through him. He has two assists to his name from his debut, but no goal in the Hammers' colours yet. What better stage to end the wait?

Arsenal player to watch: Gervinho. The Ivorian has fired five goals in as many games, including his brace against Southampton, and it is fair to say Arsene Wenger's decision to deploy him in the central striker's role is paying dividends. That's as many goals as he managed in the whole of the 2011-12 season, but his newfound form represents the major threat to the Hammers' injury-hit back line.

Key battle: Jussi Jaaskelainen v Arsenal attack. The decision to sell Robin van Persie was met with suspicion, but Arsenal have attempted to replace him by spreading the goals around a varied and potent array of attackers. In Lukas Podolski, Gervinho, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla they have plenty of scope to score, but they will face an able match in Jaaskelainen, a man used to getting one over on the Gunners from his time with Bolton.

Trivia: West Ham scored the most goals from set plays in the 2011-12 Championship, while the last three league goals Arsenal have conceded have come from dead-ball situations.

Stats: The Hammers were the last Premier League side to win at Highbury and the first team to win at Emirates Stadium.



http://espnfc.com/en/preview/345777/preview.html?soccernet=true&cc=3888

Home Advantage vs Arsenal. . .Hmmm. Hope Mr. Wenger drilled his folks well.

. . .Otherwise, we'll be seeing something similar to last weekend's "event".

mukina2: Arsenal travel to Upton Park this weekend on Saturday - with some defensive questions to answer. The Gunners' rearguard started the season impeccably, conceding just once in four games, but in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City and the 2-1 defeat to Chelsea they were beaten three times by set-pieces.

All of the good work Arsenal defensive coach Steve Bould was credited with in the opening weeks of the campaign has been thrown into disarray by the same old defensive lapses which seem to cost Arsene Wenger's side season in and season out.

The last thing they need is a trip to visit Sam Allardyce and Andy Carroll. The giant Geordie's inclusion in the England squad this week will have given his confidence a boost following recent injury problems, and he will have a point to prove. The kind of point that saw him single-handedly dismantle Fulham on his West Ham debut in a 3-0 victory when Brendan Rodgers' decision to offload him from Liverpool was still fresh in the memory.

Carroll has experience of getting the better of Arsenal, having scored the only goal for Newcastle in a 1-0 win in November 2010, and he is likely to be the focus of West Ham's attacking play as Allardyce attempts to mastermind another famous victory against one of Wenger's slick passing teams.

The West Ham boss has won four and drawn three of his nine Premier League meetings with the Gunners over the years, and after making a steady start to life back in the top flight they will be in confident mood.

Three wins and three clean sheets have seen West Ham make the best start of any promoted side by some distance, and they sit two points better off than Arsenal, who will be eager to get their aspirations of a title tilt back on course. Arsenal's dedication to attacking play dictates that they will come and have a go, and they will be keen to rediscover the free-flowing goalscoring form of their win against Southampton.

The game will be decided by which team has the most potent attacking options on the day and is sure to prove enthralling viewing.

West Ham player to watch: Andy Carroll. Injury has prevented Carroll enjoying a run of games since Liverpool's decision to let Carroll move south, but with the England international likely to lead the line for West Ham all their best play will go through him. He has two assists to his name from his debut, but no goal in the Hammers' colours yet. What better stage to end the wait?

Arsenal player to watch: Gervinho. The Ivorian has fired five goals in as many games, including his brace against Southampton, and it is fair to say Arsene Wenger's decision to deploy him in the central striker's role is paying dividends. That's as many goals as he managed in the whole of the 2011-12 season, but his newfound form represents the major threat to the Hammers' injury-hit back line.

Key battle: J[b]ussi Jaaskelainen v Arsenal attack[/b]. The decision to sell Robin van Persie was met with suspicion, but Arsenal have attempted to replace him by spreading the goals around a varied and potent array of attackers. In Lukas Podolski, Gervinho, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla they have plenty of scope to score, but they will face an able match in Jaaskelainen, a man used to getting one over on the Gunners from his time with Bolton.

Trivia: West Ham scored the most goals from set plays in the 2011-12 Championship, while the last three league goals Arsenal have conceded have come from dead-ball situations.

Stats: The Hammers were the last Premier League side to win at Highbury and the first team to win at Emirates Stadium.



http://espnfc.com/en/preview/345777/preview.html?soccernet=true&cc=3888

My Alhaja, I c us winning dis one. Gervinho hatrick and finally Giroud scored. D scoreline wil b Ars 4 Whm 0.

DMainMan:

My Alhaja, I c us winning dis one. Gervinho hatrick and finally Giroud scored. D scoreline wil b Ars 4 Whm 0.

0-4? You're dreaming. Game is going to be tough and can go either way. Brace yourself!

Its going to be difficult. Let me say WHU 1 - 2 AFC

revomind:

0-4? You're dreaming. Game is going to be tough and can go either way. Brace yourself!

Yes, True. Especially with the way Arsenal lost last weekend.

DMainMan:

My Alhaja, I c us winning dis one. Gervinho hatrick and finally Giroud scored. D scoreline wil b Ars 4 Whm 0.

Stop that dream my friend, EPL is not La Liga!

As I said before #CFC match, we need Per Mertesacker in the defence! He might be slow and bla bla bla bla, but he is the best, technically and experience wise! He pairs well with either TV or LK. Moreover, TV and LK partnership is not working; why experiment?

With Big Sam's penchant for Long Balls, and Big Andy's strength and aerial ability, #afc will likely concede through set piece again! Not unless we put our backside in order!

#Go gunners

arsenal need to win to boost their confident again in d epl. I see them winning by 2 goals

Arsenal shld go 4 d Jugular ie pumpin' early goals n tightenin' dia deffence bt if Carol plays.....
D only solution 2 dat z nt givin' d ball away. Hoard d possession n please n please avoid set pieces in dia half (if dats possible)

ARSENAL MUST WIN TODAY

WestYham is back. Our favourite meal. It normally ends 3:0 to gunners.

I hope arsenal wins, i would like to see per partnering Tv5 ,i would like to see the front three of podolski,Giroud and gervinho.

tchaik:

Stop that dream my friend, EPL is not La Liga!

As I said before #CFC match, we need Per Mertesacker in the defence! He might be slow and bla bla bla bla, but he is the best, technically and experience wise! He pairs well with either TV or LK. Moreover, TV and LK partnership is not working; why experiment?

With Big Sam's penchant for Long Balls, and Big Andy's strength and aerial ability, #afc will likely concede through set piece again! Not unless we put our backside in order!

#Go gunners

Ok now, what has laliga got to do with this match? Is it that EPL matches don't have heavy scorelines or what? I just wonder why some people keep hitting @ laliga *smh*

Abeg anybody knows where ‎​i fit get charm to dey win my soccer games ‎​i dey bet online?

#WHUFC vs. #AFC preview!



I’m going to write this post in the direct, in your face, style of West Ham.

…

West Ham like fouls. They lead the League in fouls with an average of 16 fouls per game.

West Ham get a lot of yellow cards. They lead the League in yellow cards with 15 of them.

They got 8 yellow cards in their last game against QPR. 4 of those cards were for fouls and 4 for time wasting and complaining.

All 8 of their cards in that game against QPR came after they took the lead.

7 of their 15 yellow cards are for time wasting and other general cuntery, such as kicking the ball out of play and moaning to the referee when they don’t get a call.

The Alardyce coat of arms is a stick of gum rampant with the motto GET A RESTART.

Phil Dowd is the referee tomorrow. Phil Dowd once refereed the worst refereed match in the history of the game: a 4-4 draw between Arsenal and Newcastle.

West Ham score a lot of goals off set plays. Four of them so far this season. That’s joint best with two other teams.

Arsenal have conceded three consecutive goals in the League off set plays. This causes much consternation among Arsenal fans who can’t figure out how that’s possible now that Pat Rice is no longer with the club.

Allardyce is an acolyte of Charlie Reep. He loves long balls, believes in “playing the percentages” and will instruct his team to pound their balls onto Andy Carroll’s face because Andy Carroll is tall.

Andy Carroll won a lot of aerial duels last season, 152/236. The most in the League.

Per Mertesacker is so tall that West Ham won’t be kicking the ball in his direction. No one ever does, that’s why Per Mertesacker only has 19 aerial duels this season and Vermaelen has 26.

Ok, so admittedly that’s not an astonishing insight.

Allardyce will opt for big diagonals and Carroll will be playing between Gibbs and Vermaelen. This has the added bonus of Carroll’s knockdowns going to an onrushing Kevin Nolan or Ricardo Vas Te. West Ham love scoring that way. Almost as much as they love scoring off set plays.

West Ham will be so eager to show off the set piece they have been working on all week that I expect them to dive to the ground immediately upon finding themselves in the Arsenal half. Is there nothing that big, hard, English midfielders like Kevin Nolan like better than going down when they have the ball?

Phil Dowd will award them the free kick because he’s fucking mental.


Per Mertesacker’s name is pronounced PEAR. So stop making  puns like “Mertesacker was Per-fect”. Instead, try this: Vermaelen and Mertesacker will probably Per up as the starting center backs.

I have no clue who will actually start for either team but I will guess at Arsenal’s lineup anyway: Mannone, Jenkinson, PEAR, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Coquelin, Cazorla, Podolski, Gervinho, Ramsey.

Or maybe Wenger will start Ox. Whatever.

I picked Ramsey because I think Wenger will want to play his “crazy diamond” four central midfielder thing that he does whenever the opposition try to outnumber Arsenal in midfield. Which is exactly what West Ham will try to do. See, contrary to popular opinion the Hammers don’t really “park the bus”. They actually play a more aggressive pressing game when they don’t have the ball. It’s similar to Barcelona in that regard. Except, it’s nothing like Barcelona because West Ham don’t want the ball back. They just want to kick the ball back into the Arsenal half or out of play. What they actually want is for the game to get over.

Sorry, I got a little serious there.

Suck it, Ramsey haters!

Arsenal like to pass the ball. They will try to pass the ball despite Phil Dowd allowing West Ham to rotationally foul Santi Cazorla and time waste for 90  minutes.

Arsenal’s top four players in terms of passes per game are: Arteta, Cazorla, Jenkinson, and Gibbs. Technically Diaby is 4th but Diaby doesn’t count because he is injured, again again.

Arsenal’s third most prolific passer is Carl Jenkinson.  He’s pretty good. He might get called up for England one day. We will find out from Roy Hodgson when he holds his next presser on the Piccadilly line.

Jenkinson is good but Gibbs is actually better. Which is why Hodgson selected him to be injured playing for England next week.

Gibbs leads Arsenal in interceptions with 3.8 — that’s third best in the League. He’s also second at Arsenal in tackles. Has only committed three fouls in six games. Averages as many key passes as Arteta (1.2). And gets in the same number of crosses per game as Jenkinson (whom many believe is a better crosser). Gibbs is pretty good.

Mark Noble leads the League in tackles per game. He will probably try to tackle someone tomorrow. Inevitably he will foul someone hard. I’m guessing it will be Cazorla because Cazorla plays almost entirely in the opposition half.

Don’t bet against Arsenal getting a goal of their own from a set piece. Against Olympiakos, Steve Bould made a great tactical substitution and put on Giroud and Ramsey in the 80th minute. The two of them combined very well and actually helped to keep Olympiakos penned into their own half. It was so effective that Olympiakos never generated a shot in those last 15 minutes. But Arsenal created four chances between those two subs. A late set piece winner from Giroud would be the perfect way to go into nationalism week.

That said, Gervinho will start. Wenger doesn’t like to change. And why would he? It’s working.

Stop comparing Gervinho to Henry. Yes, I know Henry was a winger transformed into a striker but Gervinho lacks… gah, just don’t ever do that.  Here’s the three things that Gervinho could do to be like Henry:

1. CUT THAT COMBOVER. Henry would not rock that, bro.
2. Stop with the chip on your shoulder/Nazi salute goal celebration thing. No one will ever erect a statue of you doing a “roman salute” outside of the Grove. I don’t care if you score 1000 goals. It will never happen.
3. Do nothing because you will never be Thierry Henry. I mean, have you ever seen Henry play football?

I will now be abused as a Gervinho-hater.


Source: www.7amkickoff.com

Everybdy jst chill, arsenal wil win dis match.

West Ham will try their best, but their best will fall woefully short.
Comfy win for the red and white army.
I just hope Giroud scores today.

Gunners can not beat Whu it ganna be 1-0 or draw in favour of home side

arsenal 3 - 1 west ham goals 4rm gervinho vermaline and carzola

Jogging...West ham 1 - Arsenal 3

DMainMan:

My Alhaja, I c us winning dis one. Gervinho hatrick and finally Giroud scored. D scoreline wil b Ars 4 Whm 0.

and you had to quote the entire article.
@topic
3 points to arsenal

West Ham are winning this game

DMainMan:

My Alhaja, I c us winning dis one. Gervinho hatrick and finally Giroud scored. D scoreline wil b Ars 4 Whm 0.

kwarectt!!!!

handshakes

andy carroll abeg just do the usual ..

Ramsey is starteth choi'est

awww see aw and benayoun

game on!!!

nice try poldi

nice nice giroud
first corner le Arsenal

Mukeeeeeeeeeeheeeeeeheeweeee

poor corner santi

Come on west ham