West Ham make the short trip to take on Arsenal this evening.
Mark Lawrenson
Pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Arsenal will beat London rivals West Ham United 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium this evening.
The Gunners head into a second home game in four days having drawn 2-2 at home with Manchester City on Sunday, with the pressure still on manager Arsene Wenger.
Sunday’s draw means Arsenal have one just one of the last six games, picking up only four points as they now lie seven points off the Champions League places.
After such a torrid run of form, Arsenal need to hit back – and there may not be a better Premier League team to play than West Ham United right now.
The Hammers have lost each of their last four Premier League games, including Saturday’s 2-1 reverse away at Hull City; a game in which Slaven Bilic’s men were leading 1-0.
With just two points in the last six games, West Ham are sliding back towards the relegation zone, and lie just six points clear of the bottom three.
Manager Bilic is back under intense pressure once again, with some speculation that he could be leaving the club this summer unless he can turn results around in the coming weeks.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
Now, pundit Mark Lawrenson has told BBC Sport that he thinks Arsenal will beat West Ham 2-1, and he predicts that the result will have a huge bearing on Bilic’s future, claiming the Hammers will decide whether to back or sack the Croatian this week depending on the result against Arsenal.
“It took Arsenal a while to work out how to stop Manchester City playing from the back in Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Emirates Stadium,” said Lawrenson. “The Gunners never really closed the City players down and there were spells where they looked rudderless.
“West Ham have problems of their own, though, and I am sick of hearing about what their owners think about it. They don’t have to apologise on social media every time the Hammers lose, but it is like they cannot stay off it. Why not just let the manager explain if the team are beaten, and back the manager?”
“Instead, Slaven Bilic’s future seems to be a topic of discussion every week. I am going for an Arsenal win on Wednesday, and if I am right we will probably hear a lot more about whether Bilic is being sacked – or not – this week. Even if Arsenal do win, though, I am not sure it would be a good enough result for Wenger to announce he is definitely staying for another couple of years. If that is what is happening, he should maybe save that news for a different day,” he added.
What is your prediction for Arsenal v West Ham United?
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