English Premier
2025-02-22 - Arsenal vs West Ham United
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 22nd February 2025 - Kick Off 3pm
Arsenal
Mikel Merino may not be a striker by trade, but he was asked to come on and make a difference for an Arsenal team missing a host of key attackers with the game goalless at the King Power Stadium. The Spaniard did everything that Mikel Arteta would have wanted and his double makes him an interesting option for the manager, who is looking for solutions with Arsenal trying to stay with Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners will be playing before Liverpool this weekend, but all eyes will be on the fixture at Villa Park on Wednesday when the League leaders try and extend the 7 point gap they currently hold over Arsenal. The only focus for the Arsenal squad has to be on trying to win at least 11 of their remaining 13 League games and they will be aiming to improve the 8-4-0 record at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal have been Knocked Out of both domestic Cup competitions over the last six weeks, but have won 6 of their last 8 games in all competitions ahead of this fixture. Wins over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in Premier League games at the Emirates Stadium in 2025 are encouraging, although Arsenal fans will still be regretting seeing their team blow a 2-0 lead over Aston Villa in a 2-2 draw here last month.
Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz will not return this season, while Gabriel Martinelli may not be involved until after the March international break. Bukayo Saka is edging closer and closer to a return, although that is unlikely to be until next month at the earliest.
West Ham United
The next four months is something of a 'free hit' for Graham Potter as he looks to instil some of his methods with the West Ham United squad, while also assessing those who can help moving forward. Inconsistent results and performances have to be expected, but there is more time between games in the weeks ahead and that should give Potter an opportunity to really work on the training ground.
A disappointing 0-1 home loss to Brentford has left West Ham United in 16th place in the Premier League table, although they are still 10 points clear of the relegation zone. The Hammers make a relatively short journey to North London with a 3-4-5 away record having scored 13 goals and conceded 20 in those matches played.
West Ham United beat Fulham 3-2 in Graham Potter's first game in charge at the London Stadium, but they have not won any of 4 League games after that one and have been beaten 3 times. The team have lost 2 of 3 away games under Potter's guidance, but West Ham United were only narrowly beaten in those fixtures at Aston Villa (2-1) and Chelsea (2-1) and have earned a Premier League draw at Villa Park in between.
Vladimir Coufal is a doubt, while Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio are absent.
Head to Head
Four goals were scored inside the first 36 minutes and Arsenal were comfortable 2-5 winners at the London Stadium in early December.
Arsenal had won 8 in a row at the Emirates Stadium against West Ham United, but that run was snapped in a 0-2 defeat in December 2023.
Prediction
Just when it looked like Arsenal were going to punished for a lack of investment in the final third during the January transfer window, Mikel Merino stepped up and helped the team to a 0-2 win at Leicester City in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta needs his team to just find a way to keep the wins ticking over while waiting for Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli to give his team a boost in the final third and Merino may be the player who can fit in to help.
They will be expected to keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool by beating a struggling West Ham United team, but Arsenal would be wise to focus and not overlook this opponent.
Graham Potter is still working with his players to understand his method and West Ham United are also short of numbers to lead the line, but his team have been better away from home than at the London Stadium over the last month. Both Aston Villa and Chelsea have been pushed in narrow defeats, while West Ham United did find a way to earn a point at Villa Park in the Premier League following the FA Cup exit at the same ground.
Even scoring once may help West Ham United avoid a heavy defeat and the prices are hard to trust in the Asian Handicap or Total Goals markets set.
You can make a case for Arsenal and West Ham United covering the Asian Handicap set at 1.5 goals and that makes it a market to ignore.
Last weekend backing Arsenal to win a game that did not feature a lot of goals paid out, but the layers are on top of that same angle, while West Ham United have more consistent quality in the final third compared with Leicester City. That could see them play a part and it does make things tougher to call as far as those outright markets are concerned.
The feeling is that Arsenal will find a way and the focus turns to the player markets and who can make the difference for the hosts.
Mikel Merino was the one being serenaded by the away fans in the win at the King Power Stadium, but take nothing away from Ethan Nwaneri's contribution.
His cross set up the first goal and Ethan Nwaneri was a more consistent threat than veteran Raheem Sterling with four shots against Leicester City. The post was hit and it does feel like the Arsenal players are looking at the 17 year old to step up for them and make up for the absences of the bigger names in the squad.
Ethan Nwaneri has responded very well- in the last four games, the youngster has scored twice and has that big assist last week and so backing him to be the key performer on Saturday looks the right play.
At the current prices, Ethan Nwaneri looks an appealing player to get behind to either score or assist for the hosts in this fixture and that may be the best angle to attack this fixture.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Arsenal 2-1 West Ham United
