Arsenal v West Ham; how are we doing?

By Bulldog Drummond

The end of last season saw Arsenal go through what was, by any measure, a very decent run of results in which we scored 21 goals in the last 11 games, those games running up to and including the cup final.

We scored in every game except the Aston Villa away match which came in between the FA Cup semi-final and the final itself, and so may be excused because of having the collective minds on the game after.

But of particular note is that just eight goals were conceded in that run of eleven, giving us eight victories, one draw and two defeats – the sort of run that generates the feeling among the players that the obvious result of each upcoming game is another victory.

Date Game Res Score Competition
25 Jun 2020 Southampton v Arsenal W 0-2 Premier League
28 Jun 2020 Sheffield United v Arsenal W 1-2 FA Cup
01 Jul 2020 Arsenal v Norwich City W 4-0 Premier League
04 Jul 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers v Arsenal W 0-2 Premier League
07 Jul 2020 Arsenal v Leicester City D 1-1 Premier League
12 Jul 2020 Tottenham Hotspur v Arsenal L 2-1 Premier League
15 Jul 2020 Arsenal v Liverpool W 2-1 Premier League
18 Jul 2020 Arsenal v Manchester City W 2-0 FA Cup
21 Jul 2020 Aston Villa v Arsenal L 1-0 Premier League
26 Jul 2020 Arsenal v Watford W 3-2 Premier League
01 Aug 2020 Arsenal v Chelsea W 2-1 FA Cup

Then in the three games thus far this season the run has been continued with even the under 21s joining in with an away win in the FA Trophy against Ipswich.

Date Match Result Score Competition
29 Aug 2020 Arsenal v Liverpool W 1-1 (5-4) FA Community Shield
08 Sep 2020 Ipswich Town v Arsenal W 1-2 Football League Trophy
12 Sep 2020 Fulham v Arsenal W 0-3 Premier League

As for the games against West Ham, we do normally win these – we have had 68 wins, 39 draws and have lost just 35 times across the years in a sequence of matches that goes back to 1906, Curiously we only won six of the first 20 games against WHAM, and the series included the notorious 1925 FA Cup games over which allegations were made some 20 years later that the Arsenal team were drugged.

Indeed in the last 26 games West Ham have beaten Arsenal just twice, which must be one of our best runs against any other established Premier League team.  Also worth noting that we have twice knocked in five goals against them in these games that stretch back to 2007.

Date Game Res Score Competition
29 Sep 2007 West Ham United v Arsenal W 0-1 Premier League
01 Jan 2008 Arsenal v West Ham United W 2-0 Premier League
26 Oct 2008 West Ham United v Arsenal W 0-2 Premier League
31 Jan 2009 Arsenal v West Ham United D 0-0 Premier League
25 Oct 2009 West Ham United v Arsenal D 2-2 Premier League
03 Jan 2010 West Ham United v Arsenal W 1-2 FA Cup
20 Mar 2010 Arsenal v West Ham United W 2-0 Premier League
30 Oct 2010 Arsenal v West Ham United W 1-0 Premier League
15 Jan 2011 West Ham United v Arsenal W 0-3 Premier League
06 Oct 2012 West Ham United v Arsenal W 1-3 Premier League
23 Jan 2013 Arsenal v West Ham United W 5-1 Premier League
26 Dec 2013 West Ham United v Arsenal W 1-3 Premier League
15 Apr 2014 Arsenal v West Ham United W 3-1 Premier League
28 Dec 2014 West Ham United v Arsenal W 1-2 Premier League
14 Mar 2015 Arsenal v West Ham United W 3-0 Premier League
09 Aug 2015 Arsenal v West Ham United L 0-2 Premier League
09 Apr 2016 West Ham United v Arsenal D 3-3 Premier League
03 Dec 2016 West Ham United v Arsenal W 1-5 Premier League
05 Apr 2017 Arsenal v West Ham United W 3-0 Premier League
13 Dec 2017 West Ham United v Arsenal D 0-0 Premier League
19 Dec 2017 Arsenal v West Ham United W 1-0 League Cup
22 Apr 2018 Arsenal v West Ham United W 4-1 Premier League
25 Aug 2018 Arsenal v West Ham United W 3-1 Premier League
12 Jan 2019 West Ham United v Arsenal L 1-0 Premier League
09 Dec 2019 West Ham United v Arsenal W 1-3 Premier League
07 Mar 2020 Arsenal v West Ham United W 1-0 Premier League

Thus everything points to a solid home win – which is when of course the complacency can come in.  But I don’t get the feeling our manager is the sort of man who will allow that to happen.

Arsenal do have a bit of a tradition of screwing up the first home game of the season, and West Ham have the advantage of the officials, who as we have seen, have started to give many more decisions in favour of the away team rather than the home team.  But even so it looks like an Arsenal win.

 

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