Declan Rice goal secures West Ham victory over defensively frail Arsenal
West Ham United were deserved winners in their Premier League early kick-off against Arsenal, with Declan Rice scoring what proved to be the winning goal three minutes after the restart for the second half to secure victory and lift Manuel Pellegrini's side up to eighth in the table.
Arsenal were once again without Mesut Ozil, who Unai Emery left out due to "tactical reasons", but without the German midfielder they had not way of finding both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, who both started the match in attack.
Instead, it was West Ham who struck first with Rice's deftly-executed finish on the turn, and although Laurent Koscielny put the ball into the back of the net in the final minute of the match, the offside flag saved West Ham to guarantee them a valuable three points. Re-live the action below.
Hello, and welcome to our coverage to today's Premier League action, where we'll be bringing you all the team news, build up and match action from all seven of today's matches.
First up Arsenal travel to West Ham for the 12.30pm kick off, team news to follow...
Arsenal last played a Premier League match 11 days ago on January 1st. They name on unchanged team from that match which finished up as a 4-1 win over Fulham.
Mesut Ozil is still out due to injury and Aaron Ramsey, who is being courted by Juventus, is on the bench.
West Ham meanwhile make three changes from their last Premier League game, a 2-2 draw with Brighton.
Samir Nasri makes his first appearance for the Hammers and his return to the Premier League for the first time since August 2016, when he last played for Manchester City, against who? West Ham.
Mark Noble comes back in to captain the team with Michail Antonio bolstering the mid-field. Pedro Obiang, Robert Snodgrass and Andy Carroll return to the bench.
Marko Arnautovic starts despite West Ham receiving a £35m bid for him possibly moving to China.
Arsenal head coach Unai Emery speaking before the game: "I think West Ham are improving and they also have good individual players with quality, like Anderson, like Arnautovic, who are very good players.
"Usually [Manuel Pellegrini has] very offensive teams. They usually play matches with a balance tactically but above all with technical, offensive players."
Antonio shows his pace on the right wing, he bombs past Xhaka, keeps the ball in play and gives it to Noble. Noble plays a one-two with Nasri, who is in the box, before getting a shot away. There's no real power on the shot and Leno makes an easy save.
Aubameyang finds Lacazette in some space outside of West Ham's box. The centre backs just dropped off him and he is able to take a long range shot. He pulls in right of goal though but better signs for Arsenal.
West Ham have had the better start to the game. They've certainly created more chances. Felipe Anderson works his way into Arsenal's box and tries to curl and left-footed shot into the top corner but he doesn't get the movement on the ball and it sails wide of goal.
Good save fro m Fabianski, Aubameyang wins the ball on the halfway line and feeds it to Guendouzi, who puts it into the path of Lacazette. With one touch Lacazette puts the ball past the defenders and into the box before following it in with a burst of pace. He reclaims it and shoots but Fabianski stayed low and made a solid save.
Arnautovic is fed the ball as he runs out to the right of the box. He crosses the ball into the area and Leno intercepts the ball. At the other end Lacazette gets another chance denied by Fabianski but he's ruled to have made a foul in the build up anyway.
Lacazette looks up for it today. He's putting himself into good positions and his teammates keep finding him. This time Kolasinac gets into the box from the left after Iwobi flicks one on and he pulls it back to Lacazette waiting in the centre of the box. Rice makes a desperate tackle and stops the shot.
Arsenal look a little compact in defence and West Ham are struggling to break through. Nasri, to a chorus of boos from the travelling Arsenal fans, sends a shot wide of goal from outside the box.
West Ham win a corner. It's their third of the match and all three have been poor. West Ham recover though and Nasri is able to squeeze the ball back into the box to Arnautovic who is denied by a Sokratis block.
Felipe Anderson combines with Nasri to get the ball into Arsenal's box but the ball is poor from the former Man City man and Leno claims it. Arsenal give the ball away again and West Ham put a ball into Arnautovic over the top. The forward holds up the ball before laying it up for Anderson to take a shot... that narrowly goes wide.
Arsenal have probably had the best chance of the half, through Lacazette but West Ham have had the most chances. Both teams have been sloppy with their passing and both have been able to break down the other's defence. All we need is a goal.
The match will be shown live on Sky Sports’ Premier League and Main Event channels from 11:30am. Sky Sports subscribers can also watch the game via the Sky Go app.
The match will also be available on Now TV by grabbing a day pass for just £7.99.
Highlights will be shown at 10:20pm on BBC One.
Player to watch…
Samir Nasri - The 31-year-old midfielder is set to make his first league start for West Ham against his former club after signing a six-month contract with the Hammers on New Year’s Day. The Frenchman, who completed an 18-month doping ban before signing, made his debut in Manuel Pellegrini’s side 2-0 win over Birmingham City in the FA Cup third-round and dictated play for large parts of the 58 minutes that he played.
Nasri is set to face his former club after starting in the FA Cup (AFP/Getty)
Form guide…
West Ham: WLWLDW
Arsenal: LWDLWW
Odds…
West Ham to win: 5/2
Arsenal to win: Evens
Draw: 14/5
(Odds provided by 888 Sport)
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