Arsenal travel to the fabled Olympic Stadium to face a struggling West Ham, albeit one that got four points off us last season.
Southampton showed the way to shut Arsenal down – two or three combative midfielders and pacy wingers for the counter. Expect some muscle from Bilic, perhaps in the form of Obiang and Kouyate, with players like Lanzini and Payet, skillful dribblers, able to play on the break. There’s also talk of Carroll returning, which would be a real thorn in the Gunners’ side.
The news that Antonio and Cresswell are both injured will be welcome to Arsenal’s wingers – already on good for this season, Iwobi/Ox and Walcott will be relishing every one on one. It also forces Bilic to a four man defence, meaning an unfamiliar change in system for the Irons.
The rest of the team picks itself – a Coquelin Xhaka duo will probably do – Ramsey isn’t defensive enough, Elneny is too conservative on the break.
West Ham’s main weakness is the simple lack of a decent out and out striker – this forces the midfield to carry all the goal burden, while the striker simply acts to occupy the defence. This is partly why they have struggled offensively, as realistically, Payet is the only capable player of delivering returns.
What will West Ham’s gameplan be? I predict that they’ll try and keep it tight, before bringing on Carroll late on/relying on a set piece. Bilic is under pressure, and a clean sheet goes a long way to alleviating pressure.
Arsenal, meanwhile, need to take advantage of the flanks and overlap.
The biggest matchups will be the West Ham fullbacks against both Arsenal wingers, and Payet vs Jenkinson, who has struggled in recent times.
