Arsenal head into the Boxing Day derby against West Ham on the back of three successive slip-ups in the league, meaning this is a must-win game for Arsene Wenger’s men.
And with leaders Liverpool facing in-form Manchester City away, the Gunners can easily return to the top of the standings with three points from Boleyn Ground, but they do need to show considerable improvement if that is to happen.
Arsenal have reason for optimism ahead of the clash with West Ham, seeing as how they are unbeaten in last 11 matches against their local rivals, keeping seven clean sheets in the process.
And with the Gunners impressing on the road prior to the 6-3 loss at Etihad, there is clearly value in backing them to win this match to nil at odds of 7/4.
Meanwhile, the Emirates outfit are 8/13 for a straight win in spite of the poor run of form they find themselves in at the moment.
Arsene Wenger surprisingly opted to make no substitutions in the Monday’s stalemate with Chelsea, and while we can exclude wholesale changes, the Frenchman could decide to rest one or two of his regular starters.
Jack Wilshere serves the second match of his two-game ban, but Lukas Podolski is likely to make his first appearance since August.
West Ham, on the other hand, will have Kevin Nolan back from suspension, but Mladen Petric, Stewart Downing, Andy Carroll, Winston Reid and Ricardo Vaz Te are all out.
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