Arteta urges Arsenal to find consistency ahead of West Ham trip

Mikel Arteta urged Arsenal to find consistency ahead of their Premier League trip to West Ham on Saturday.

The Gunners produced one of their best performances of the season in a 5-1 thrashing of Sporting CP on Tuesday in the Champions League.

Arteta knows the challenge will be to continue that form in England's top division, where they sit fourth – trailing leaders Liverpool by some nine points.

"That's what we need to do. We need to find consistency," the Arsenal manager said. "You want to be challenging for the big things? You have to be consistent.

"Win and win again. [Sporting] was a very different game but we reacted really well, let's move on now."

West Ham delivered their best result of this campaign, too, in their last outing after a 2-0 away victory over Newcastle United on Monday.

That victory lifted the Hammers up to 14th in the table and somewhat eased the mounting pressure on Julen Lopetegui, who will be suspended on Saturday due to an accumulation of bookings this season.

"The only thing in our control is to play football, attack and defend well, and combine play better," Lopetegui said of the Newcastle win.

"We continue with this mentality. I am happy for the players because they can see we can do well as a team. I am happy for them."

On his ban, he added: "I am not happy. But more importantly, the players will be on the pitch. A win is always important. It shows we can compete and trust in ourselves."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

West Ham – Tomas Soucek

No player has scored more Premier League goals for West Ham this season than Tomas Soucek (three), who formed a dominant midfield duo with Carlos Soler on Monday at Newcastle.

Indeed, 17 of his last 18 strikes for the Hammers have either put them one goal ahead (12) or drawn them level (5) in the match.

Arsenal – Bukayo Saka

Only Mohamed Salah (16) has been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Arsenal’s in-form Bukayo Saka (12 – four goals, eight assists).

In fact, Saka – who found the net against Sporting on Tuesday – has both scored and assisted in three different games this top-flight term, with only Salah again doing so more (four).

MATCH PREDICTION – ARSENAL WIN

Arsenal are the favourites heading into this London derby considering their recent head-to-head record against Saturday's hosts.

The Gunners have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League away games against West Ham (W10 D5), winning this exact fixture by a remarkable 6-0 scoreline last season.

West Ham have also lost more games in this competition overall (36) and at home (15) against Arsenal than they have versus any other opponent in the competition.

Their problems have not just come against Arsenal, too, given West Ham have lost their last two home London derbies in the top flight, going down 2-0 against Fulham and 3-0 against Chelsea.

That form in derby-day fixtures is in stark contrast to Arsenal, who have lost just two of their 26 Premier League matches against fellow London clubs since the start of the 2022-23 season (W18 D6).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

West Ham win – 18.5%