West Ham United play host to Arsenal this Sunday chasing their first win over the Gunners since Declan Rice’s 2019 winner, but where are Manuel Pellegrini’s victorious team now?
The Emirates Stadium natives have dominated the derby between north and east London sides over their recent encounters. Arsenal are unbeaten in five, with a 3-3 draw last year returning the Irons’ only point since Rice ensured Pellegrini’s men edged Unai Emery’s 1-0.
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A then-19-year-old Rice fired the only goal of the London Stadium clash three minutes into the second-half. The West Ham product fired a first-time hit past Bernd Leno from a Samir Nasri lay-off, as the Frenchman played in his first Premier League game since August 2016.
Rice had never scored in the top-flight before finding the back of Leno’s net for West Ham to take their first win over Arsenal since 2015. The Gunners had won five and drawn two of the meetings in-between losing to Pellegrini’s side and 2-0 at home to Slaven Bilic’s squad.
West Ham had lost five of their 11 home Premier League fixtures before hosting Arsenal in 2019. Bournemouth, Wolves and Watford had won, but the London rivals played a highly-competitive derby with Lukasz Fabianski the first to deny the Gunners since August 2018.
Lukasz Fabianski (GK) – West Ham
Arsenal had scored in all of their Premier League matches between the opening day of the 2018/19 season and losing at West Ham. Fabianski did well to register his clean sheet, with Alexandre Lacazette forcing a stellar save from the Hammers’ former Gunners goalkeeper.
Pellegrini had signed Fabianski from Swansea City for just £7m ahead of the ‘18/19 season. The Poland international could now make his 132nd top-flight appearance with the Irons if he features on Sunday. The 37-year-old has kept 30 clean sheets over his previous outings.
Pablo Zabaleta – Retired
After a decorated career with Manchester City, Pablo Zabaleta joined West Ham in a free transfer in 2017. The Argentine would stay at the London Stadium until he retired in 2020, having made 80 appearances in claret-and-blue, while sporadically serving as their captain.
He would lose his place in the Irons’ backline upon David Moyes returning to the helm in December 2019. Zabaleta had been a key figure under Pellegrini, yet his Hammers career would only include a goal and two assists in all competitions before hanging up his boots.
Issa Diop – West Ham
West Ham backed Pellegrini big in the summer 2018 transfer window, as they broke their club-record spend twice. The first instance saw Issa Diop arrive from Toulouse for £22m a day before Fabianski’s move. But the centre-half has not enjoyed the same sort of success.
Diop’s debut campaign featured 33 Premier League games – including West Ham’s last win over Arsenal. He again featured 32 times in the following term, but has only made 31 over the next two combined. Most of his minutes this season also came from injuries to others.
Falling out of favour to Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma and £2m Craig Dawson has also seen Diop’s value plummet. L’Equipe cite a mere €10m (£8.5m) asking price, while noting the 25-year-old’s agent has met Lyon to discuss a possible move as he is Les Gones’ top target.
Angelo Ogbonna – West Ham
Ogbonna, meanwhile, featured beside Diop as West Ham beat Arsenal in 2019, and would likely have remained their first-choice this season but for a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament operation in November after suffering the injury during a 3-2 win over Liverpool.
The 33-year-old had started all 11 available Premier League matches this term before the blow. He is now set to be out of contract at the end of June. But The Athletic report West Ham will activate a one-year option to extend his terms and may offer a longer-term deal.
Aaron Cresswell – West Ham
Aaron Cresswell joined West Ham in 2014 and may play a 252nd Premier League game for the club if he faces Arsenal this Sunday. He has only sat out seven games so far this season after a back injury in November, and he filled in at centre-half against Chelsea last Sunday.
Mark Noble – West Ham
Mark Noble is Mr West Ham, but the midfielder is nearing the end of his playing days with the Irons. The Hammers captain will retire at the end of the of 2021/22 campaign, and is in talks with the east London outfit over a behind-the-scenes role, per the Evening Standard.
Moyes has rarely called on the 34-year-old to feature in Premier League fixtures during his last hurrah this term. Noble has only played in seven and started just two of his outings so far. His last start was at Chelsea last week, as the veteran played his 410th top-flight game.
Declan Rice – West Ham
Moyes elected to start Noble at Chelsea to give Rice a rare break with a seat on the bench. The Irons vice-captain is a mainstay of their midfield when fit, having come on leaps and bounds since netting their last winning goal over the Gunners at home three years ago.
He commands the core of the pitch and dictates how the Hammers operate, while adding goals and assists to his game. Facing Arsenal on Sunday can see 23-year-old Rice already reach 164 top-flight outings with West Ham, while now boasting six goals and eight assists.
Michail Antonio – West Ham
Michail Antonio has been West Ham’s only recognised senior striker for the past year. Yet he only cemented his place in the position upon Moyes’ return, with Pellegrini preferring the Jamaica international out on the wing during his time in charge at the London Stadium.
The £7m former Nottingham Forest forward has scored 27 and assisted 14 goals across 73 Premier League games following Moyes’ return. He only recorded seven of each across 42 games under Pellegrini, of which Antonio additionally only started 28 of his appearances.
Samir Nasri – Retired
Pellegrini offered Nasri his return to the Premier League in a free transfer in the January 2019 window. The former Arsenal midfielder had been without a club throughout 2018 while serving a doping ban. He would only feature eight times in claret-and-blue, however.
Nasri’s first top-flight match for West Ham came against Arsenal in their last win over the north Londoners. He assisted Rice’s winner, as well, in an impressive display by causing the Gunners issues. But it was just one of three league starts before his term ended in March.
Felipe Anderson – Lazio
West Ham followed breaking their club-record spend on Diop to sign Felipe Anderson from Lazio for £36m in July 2018. After a slow start to life in England, the Brazilian found his feet to end his debut Premier League season with nine goals and four assists across 36 games.
But that was as good as things would get for the 29-year-old in claret-and-blue. Anderson started his second season with three assists in six games, yet would only offer one more and a goal across his following 21 outings before returning to Lazio in 2021 for just £2.5m.
Marko Arnautovic – Bologna
Before Diop, Marko Arnautovic was West Ham’s club-record signing at £20m from Stoke in 2017, and he led Pellegrini’s attack as the Hammers last beat Arsenal. Yet his involvement in the clash came following his brother and agent, Danijel, stating that he wanted to leave.
“West Ham bought Marko for peanuts,” Danijel Arnautovic told talkSPORT. Adding: “Now West Ham have a fantastic offer [of £35m]. It is close to double what they paid for him. He wants to go to a new market and challenge for titles. This is what he wants.”
But West Ham rejected the bid, before eventually selling Arnautovic to Shanghai SIPG that July for £22.5m. The 33-year-old had scored 21 and assisted 10 goals in 59 Premier League games in east London. He later left SIPG in August 2021 to join Bologna for €3m (£2.5m).
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