West Ham’s defeat to Arsenal was disappointing, but there were certainly positives.

After two consecutive wins at the Emirates, a lot of West Ham fans had a sneaky feeling they would be able to pick up a result against Arsenal. Unfortunately, they were very wrong.

The opening half-hour was actually rather strong from the Hammers. Despite not having much of the ball, they defended superbly. Arsenal did have some opportunities, but it was none other than Declan Rice who would open the scoring, tapping home what was (from a West Ham perspective) an unlucky goal to concede.

Frustratingly, the hosts really really grew into the game, and they doubled their lead through a controversial penalty that was converted by Saka.

Despite losing 2-0, and having a fair few complaints, there was some real positive to take from the match. Nuno clearly has the players defending as a unit, he wants to incorporate the youth, and some individuals – mainly Summerville – were great.

Under Potter, we likely would have lost that 4 or 5 nil, so staying somewhat competitive in a game against one of the best teams in the league is extremely promising.