Arsenalvs.West Ham

Mikel Arteta's men have a golden opportunity to move to within five points of leaders Liverpool in the Premier League table on Saturday afternoon, having seen the Reds drop another two points in their 2-2 draw with Aston Villa in midweek.

The Gunners also have some wrongs to right after losing 2-0 at home to West Ham last season, but they have since scored 11 goals in their last two away games against the Irons and defied their attacking injury crisis to sink Leicester City 2-0 last weekend.

However, Arsenal needed some late heroics from makeshift striker Mikel Merino to get over the line at the King Power, and Watts can envisage another awkward display from Arteta's team on Saturday, but he stressed that points are more important than performances at this stage of the season.

"It's a huge game," Watts told Sports Mole. "The game last season was incredibly frustrating. I think Arsenal had about 25 shots, West Ham walked away 2-0 winners, could have been 3-0 if Raya hadn't saved that late penalty. That shows that anything can happen.

"But this is a big, big game for Arsenal. Just like Leicester last weekend, I don't think it's going to be pretty. What we saw with Arsenal last week, I think we're going to have to accept we're going to see more of the same over the next few weeks.

Arsenal vs. West Ham: 'Not about the performance'

"To be honest, if they win, I couldn't care less. It's just about winning right now, get through to the next international break, get [Bukayo] Saka and [Gabriel] Martinelli back, and then let's see what happens after that.

"These next few games, it's not about the performance, it's about the result. That's all that's going to matter this Saturday. It's 11 goals in the last two games against West Ham for Arsenal, so hopefully the memory of that disappointing day at the Emirates is long gone and Arsenal can carry on that form."

While Arsenal are still lamenting the absences of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus, the rest of Arteta's squad is in good nick heading into the London derby, where a couple of players may be sticking their hands up for starts.

Merino is undoubtedly leading the queue for promotion from the bench after his dramatic double against the Foxes, while full-backs Ben White and Riccardo Calafiori are alternative options for Arteta.

White was back on the bench against Leicester after recovering from knee surgery, while Calafiori - who has lost his place in the first team to Myles Lewis-Skelly - played a key role in the Gunners' second goal after being introduced as a substitute.

Could Arteta make any Arsenal changes for West Ham showdown?

Arsenal only have four days in between Saturday's game and a crunch clash with surprise package Nottingham Forest at the City Ground, but barring Merino possibly starting over Raheem Sterling in attack, Watts does not see Arteta shuffling the pack.

"I don't think so," Watts replied when asked if Arteta might consider any changes. "They've had a whole week off. They've got a bit of time between games. I see Calafiori more as an attacking sub at the moment. When he came on against Leicester, he was very good, was obviously involved in the second goal.

"It sounds silly because he's a left back, but when I look at the lack of options Arsenal have to change things in attack, I feel like starting Lewis-Skelly now and then bringing Calafiori on for the last half hour is a good way of adding a little bit of attacking impetus because he loves those driving runs forward.

"I think he'll probably stick with that and leave him as an attacking option off the bench. I don't think White will start. I still think he'll be drip fed back into the team, which is important because you don't want to take any risks with Ben White. He's only just come back to fitness.

"I'd be surprised if there are any changes. If they'd had a midweek game, maybe so, but they've had a long week to prepare for this one. It'll probably be the unchanged team apart from maybe something up front, the Merino-Sterling decision is going to be the one big one."

Watts also explained why he is "veering towards" selecting Merino over Sterling for the clash with West Ham, which comes a little over 24 hours before Liverpool have the chance to respond in their blockbuster showdown with champions Manchester City at the Etihad.

Written by

Ben Knapton