Arsenal v West Ham Prediction 23rd January 2013

Arsenal v West Ham Betting Preview
Big game London derby now for Arsenal now who have gone three matches in the top flight without a win under their belt. A defeat at Chelsea on the weekend has seen them lose back to back games in the Premier League for the first time this season. How much will that have undermined their confidence? The mid-table Hammers are struggling for wins at the moment as well right now, with just one in their last seven. Will their form hand a return to winning ways for the Gunners?

Arsenal v West Ham Betting Odds at online bookmaker Sportingbet
Arsenal 2/5, Draw 3/1, West Ham 13/2

Arsenal v West Ham Recommended Bet:
It is not as if the home form of Arsenal this season is really offering any certainty that they will bounce back from their slump in form. The Gunners have won only half of all their league matches at the Emirates this season and they have now lost two of the last four now. The recent home defeats for Arsenal have both been by a 2-0 scoreline against Swansea and Manchester City. Arsene Wenger’s men have scored just two goals in their last three matches and clearly Theo Walcott as a centre forward really is doing the job for them. Consistency seems to be a huge problem for them at the moment, not being able to put together a solid ninety minutes in a match. They struggled in a recent draw against Southampton, and weren’t in the game at all in the first half against Chelsea on Sunday, where they were simply outclassed.

So while the goals have dried up a bit, defensively the Gunners through the heart of their defence look vulnerable. There has been just one clean sheet for Arsenal at  the Emirates in their last six league matches. A top four finish is looking like the best that they can hope for at the moment and they are going to have to put in a lot of hard work to achieve that. However, their recent home form against the Hammers may offer them some respite. The Gunners are unbeaten in their last four at home against West Ham and with a pretty comfortable 3-1 win over Sam Allardyce’s troops at Upton Park earlier in the season, the Gunners will be expected to have enough to get back to winning ways on Wednesday night.

West Ham have not even scored on their last four visits to the Emirates, taking just one point away in those matches. That alone doesn’t bode well for a midweek trip across London but when you pile on top the fact that the Hammers have only scored five away goals all season in the top flight, there may not be too much expected of them. The Hammers are now five away matches in a row without a win, and only have two away victories for the season. The Hammers have taken just one win in their last seven Premier League matches in total now, and while they put a tremendous amount of work into their games, there hasn’t been enough end result.

They don’t look a potent side and dead ball situations are likely to offer them their best route to goal. Just to compound their lack of goalscoring away from home, they haven’t managed to find the back of the net in their last four road games now. In total they have failed to score in 60% of their away games in the Premier League this term. A tough midfield could getter under the skin of the hosts, but having scored at just a rate of 0.5 goals per game on the road this season, it is unlikely to be enough to get any change out of the Gunners. Arsenal Half Time Betting win for a price of Evens at online bookmaker Sportingbet looks a decent return.

Form
Arsenal WDDLWL, West Ham LWDLLD

Stat Attack
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last four home matches against West Ham
The Hammers have failed to score on their last four visits to Arsenal
Arsenal have lost back to back games for the first time this season in the Premier League
West Ham have scored just five away goals all season in the top flight

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