Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
A third London Derby in a row for West Ham and they will look to make it third time lucky with their previous two ending in slightly controversial draws. Those dropped points have seen them miss the opportunity to move into the Top 4 and they will look to claim another Upton Park scalp Today and do the double this season over cross city rivals Arsenal.
These two sides met on the opening day of the season and it’s fair to say that West Ham’s 2-0 win at The Emirates was the surprise result of the opening weekend. Arsenal will be looking for revenge and not only that look to close the gap on the two sides above them as they are outsiders in the race for the title.
Last time out West Ham dropped another 2 points for the second game in succession and again the result hinged on a debatable refereeing call. Mark Clattenburg had no hesitation in sending Cheikhou Kouyaté off much to the ire of Slaven Bilic. With Crystal Palace having a numerical advantage on the pitch Dwight Gayle then took advantage of the situation and leveled the score and ultimately gave Palace a share of the points.
West Ham then went on to appeal the decision and the Red Card was subsequently overturned, that means Kouyate is available Today but how costly could the dropped points be come the end of the season as The Hammers look to snatch the final Champions League place from either of the Manchester clubs.
If they are going to have any joy today then they will need Dimitri Payet on top form, he certainly was last week as his inch perfect Free Kick restored parity for West Ham. With 7 men in the wall, it didn’t deter Payet who arrowed a fantastic strike into the postage stamp of the goal. A definite contender for goal of the season.
Their opponents Arsenal are seemingly finding their groove again, back to back wins means they can’t be ruled out of the title race just yet but have they left themselves too much to do. Is this a typical Arsenal season, where they turn it on at the wrong time.
After a classy 2-0 win at Everton before the break they exacted revenge for their F.A. Cup Quarter Final defeat at the hands of Watford with a 4-0 thumping at The Emirates. Alexis Sanchez was undoubtedly the man of the match and he looks to have found his spark again.
Also on the scoresheet was youngster Alex Iwobi. He registered his second goal in two matches and his reward of a new contract is just deserved and is going to be one to watch if not today then certainly in the weeks and months to come.
Arsene Wenger will obviously be buoyed by the fact that for all their attacking prowess they are also keeping clean sheets with a resolute looking Defence over the last two games. Questions will be asked as to why they couldn’t play this between February and March when their form seemingly deserted them
Arsenal need to win every league game between now and the end of the season to have any chance of pulling off a remarkable league comeback but it certainly isn’t going to be easy this Lunchtime at Upton Park.
With West Ham proving a difficult nut to crack this season, I have a feeling that this could be a feisty London Derby and I wouldn’t be surprised if the game ended in a draw. A result that does neither side any favours in all fairness. Honours even for me.
