West Ham will have had an injection of confidence following the win at Newcastle earlier in the week.
Our Hammers produced the best performance of the season to-date at St James’ Park, to claim a deserved 2-0 win and breathe some belief and life back into east London ahead of the derby today against Arsenal.
The title-chasing Gunners appear to be back in good form also, with a 5-1 win at Sporting Lisbon this week which followed a comfortable 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest, so West Ham will be under no illusions over the task at hand.
BBC Sport pundit Chris Sutton feels that Julen Lopetegui’s Hammers side will be feeling a boost in confidence this week, which should make for an interesting London derby, although Arsenal are still considered favourites from most quarters.
“Julen Lopetegui really needed Monday’s win at Newcastle after a difficult start as West Ham boss,” stated Sutton.
“He and his side will be buoyed by that but this is not a good time to be playing Arsenal, who are purring again now Martin Odegaard is back from injury.
“The Gunners were not in great form without Odegaard, but he makes them a different proposition and I am going to say he will make the difference in a very tight game.” Sutton’s prediction: 0-1
West Ham may very well be the underdogs for this one, however history tells all that the cockney boys have a habit of shaking things up, which certainly feels could well be the case later today.