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2022/23 English Premier League
Matchday 31
West Ham United v Arsenal
London Stadium
London, England
Sunday, 16 April 2023
Kick-off is at 15h00
Premier League leaders Arsenal will target a return to winning ways when they make the short trip to the London Stadium to take on neighbours West Ham on Sunday, April 16.
The Gunners let Manchester City back into the title race after dropping two points in a 2-2 draw with Liverpool at Anfield last Sunday, which reduced the gap between the top two to six points.
City could cut that down to just three points if they win their game in hand, having embarked on a five-match winning streak when they beat Southampton 4-1 at St Mary's last Saturday.
Mikel Arteta's side had won their previous seven games on the spin to maintain their push for a first championship trophy since the 'Invincibles' of 2003-04.
Newcastle (3rd) and Manchester United (4th) strengthened their bids for a top-four finish with victories over Brentford and Everton respectively.
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The Hammers edged closer to securing their top-flight status with a narrow 1-0 win over city rivals Fulham at Craven Cottage as they bounced back from a heavy 5-1 defeat to the Magpies three days earlier.
A third triumph in six games has taken David Moyes' team five points clear of the relegation zone in 14th spot, with goal difference keeping them above Bournemouth (15th), who are also sitting on 30 points.
The duo trail Wolves (13th) by just one point and are a further two behind Crystal Palace (12th), while the gap to Chelsea (11th) stands at nine.
Former City striker Gabriel Jesus made played a key role in Arsenal's title challenge, contributing eight goals and six assists in 18 league appearances since making the switch to the English capital in the off-season. The Brazilian scored in his second consecutive start against the Reds to make it three goals in his last two games after returning from a knee injury last month.
Goals have been hard to come by for West Ham this term and they are amongst the league's lowest scorers with 27 from their opening 29 games. Said Benrahma is the club's joint-top scorer with four goals alongside Jarrod Bowen after converting a penalty to rescue a 1-1 draw against Aston Villa on March 12, which was the Algerian's first goal in nine outings.
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In team news, Gianluca Scamacca (knee) is a definite absentee for the hosts, although Lucas Paqueta could shake off a knock in time to feature in this derby. Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mohamed Elneny (both knee), Eddie Nketiah (ankle) and William Saliba (back) remain unavailable for the visitors.
The Hammers defended resolutely to keep the Cottagers at bay after making 60 clearances, 15 interceptions and 11 blocked shots to record only their second away win this season, Moyes praising his back-five for their efforts but also admitting that performances have to improve.
"When you're in trouble, you need to find a way to get results and you need defenders who know how to do their jobs and know what their responsibilities and requirements are and I thought the boys did that really well today," the Scot said.
"Those defensive numbers tell me that the boys did their jobs, but also that we need to play better because I'm not hiding that fact."
Arteta acknowledged the Gunners were perhaps fortunate to come away from Merseyside with a share of the spoils after seeing Mohamed Salah miss a penalty in the second half.
"When you concede at the end, you always focus on dropping two points because you have it and you are suffering but you are relying on certain moments and the feeling is 'Ah, we should have done it!'" the Spaniard said.
"But being fair to ourselves, they had four big chances where they could have scored and they missed the penalty. We will have to look at ourselves in the mirror and we should have done much better in the second half."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
West Ham - 0
Arsenal - 4
Draws - 1
Matchday 31 fixtures:
Saturday, April 15
13h30: Aston Villa v Newcastle United
16h00: Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion
16h00: Everton v Fulham
16h00: Southampton v Crystal Palace
16h00: Tottenham Hotspur v Bournemouth
16h00: Wolverhampton Wanderers v Brentford
18h30: Manchester City v Leicester City
Sunday, April 16
15h00: West Ham United v Arsenal
17h30: Nottingham Forest v Manchester United
Monday, April 17
21h00: Leeds United v Liverpool
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