West Ham United vs Arsenal. Premier League.
London StadiumAttendance56,980.
Saturday 3 December 2016 17:38, UK
Andy Carroll is in line to make his long-awaited return from injury when West Ham face Arsenal on Saturday evening.
The striker has not featured since mid-August due to a knee injury and has played only once in the Premier League this season.
Hammers boss Slaven Bilic says Carroll is "not ready to play 90 minutes but he is ready to make an impact".
His return comes at a good time for the Hammers, with Diafra Sakho ruled out until the new year and Simone Zaza still struggling to find his feet since his summer loan move from Juventus.
West Ham start the weekend just a point above the relegation zone having drawn two and lost two of their last four matches.
Arsenal have injury problems of their own after the news that Santi Cazorla is facing three months on the sidelines after ankle surgery while Mathieu Debuchy is out for six weeks with a hamsting injury.
And although they went unbeaten in the Premier League during November, they only won one of their three matches.
They were also knocked out of the EFL Cup on Wednesday after losing 2-0 at home to Southampton in the quarter-finals.
With Sakho out, Slaven Bilic might choose between Ashley Fletcher and Carroll to lead the line.
Full-backs Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio should both be fit after being taken off with injuries in the midweek EFL Cup defeat to Manchester United while Andre Ayew is a doubt.
Arsenal will be without Cazorla, Decuchy, Hector Bellerin (ankle), Per Mertesacker and Danny Welbeck (both knee) while Mohamed Elneny (ilness) and Olivier Giroud (groin) face fitness tests.
West Ham were unbeaten against Arsenal last season (W1 D1), something they hadn't done since 2006/07.
The Gunners didn't lose any of their final eight league trips to Upton Park (W6 D2).
West Ham have let in two or more goals in each of their last seven home Premier League games against Arsenal.
Arsenal have conceded five goals across their last two league meetings with West Ham; as many as they had in their previous nine beforehand.
Theo Walcott has scored five goals against West Ham in the Premier League; the most against any opponent he has faced.
West Ham have lost 25 Premier League games against Arsenal; their joint-most against a single opponent in the competition along with Man Utd.
Dimitri Payet has created 46 chances in the Premier League this season, at least 11 more than any player.
What is happening at West Ham? They came away with a point at Old Trafford but didn't deserve it. They rode their luck and then they were so poor in the cup game.
However, this isn't a gimme for Arsenal as West Ham will make them work hard for it and it could be interesting to see if Andy Carroll is fit to start. He will cause problems.
It's easy to forget that Arsenal struggled for long periods against Bournemouth and Sunderland. But I fancy they may just nick this one.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-2 (8/1 with Sky Bet)
Arsenal are Sky Bet's 7/10 favourites for the victory with West Ham up against odds of 7/2 despite home advantage, while the draw is priced at 29/10. The Gunners head into the weekend as 13/2 fourth favourites to win the Premier League while their hosts are considered outsiders for relegation at 8/1 to go down. Olivier Giroud is still considered Arsenal's main goal threat at 7/2 despite Wenger favouring Sanchez (4/1 to net first) as his leading frontman, while Carroll is deemed the hosts' main threat.
