Having finished sixth and seventh respectively, in the past two seasons, the current iteration of West Ham United has shown that they have the talent and depth to compete near the top of the Premier League table.
Why that isn’t happening again this season, is a mystery. Perhaps David Moyes and his side are prioritizing Europa Conference League instead? The standings show that as the Hammers sit 16th, just one point better than Nottingham Forest, who currently in the drop zone.
Boxing Day Fixtures FYIs
Competition: Premier League regular season
Kickoff: Mon Dec 26, 8pm GMT, The Emirates, London, UK
Team News: Arsenal West Ham
Starting XI Predictions: Arsenal West Ham
Transatlantic Passage: How the Premier League Redefined Soccer in America: LINK
West Ham Team News
Coming up against league leading Arsenal, the Irons are in big trouble. They need to start accumulating more points, to move up the table, and this isn’t who you want to be facing when you need to do that. In terms of fitness concerns for this match, summer signing striker Gianluca Scamacca got injured during the London derby club friendly stalemate with Fulham.
Central defender Kurt Zouma did not feature in that exhibition clash having suffered a recent knee injury. Michail Antonio was also missing in action for that one.
Prediction: Arsenal 3, West Ham 1
Given who is in form and who is not in form, this seems like a safe pick.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.