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West Ham against the tradition for Europe

West Ham are keeping high in the table, but the game against Arsenal will show if they're really cut out for Europe. They have seven consecutive defeats against the city rival, and didn't win once in the last 12 games

West Ham lost to Chelsea 0-2 two days ago, and fell down to the fifth place before the last round of the first part of the season. Today, in another London derby, that fifth place will be tested. Arsenal are coming, and this will be an interesting duel.

West Ham did defeat a few big names home (Manchester City, Liverpool, Swansea), and weren't defeated here since September. They don't plan to let the north London guests dominate this field easily, something Arsenal are always trying to do.

- Out of the last seven games at the Upton Park, we won six and had one tie. I think we turned our stadium into a fortress and we won't let Arsenal win it easily - West Ham coach, Sam Allardyce, is determined. He knows this is one of the key tests that will show whether his team have the capacity to get to a place that leads to Europe at the end of the season.

Arsenal are a formidable opponent - they defeated West Ham in ten out of the last 12 games, including the current series of seven championship defeats, mostly with the convincing two or more goals difference. 

- To match Arsenal, who I hold in high respect, as well as their coach Wenger, you have to keep the ball safe for all 90 minutes all over the field. So, I expect the midfield and Alex Song to contribute a great deal, he should be the key player. If we manage to do that, we should get chances and try to use the weaknesses of Arsenal's defense. Everyone knows that's the weak spot for Arsenal - Allardyce explained. The center forward Andy Carroll and his great head game should definitely be an advantage for West Ham when they try to break the negative tradition and stay in the game for the high placement. Not many hoped they'd be this high before the season started. 

It's interesting to take a look at the BBC's Mark Lawrenson's table. He gave West Ham 14 points less before they got them, and he placed West Ham at the 16th place. For today, though, he predicts a 1-1 score.

Arsenal really struggled against the worst guest of the league, QPR, but managed to win 2-1. This was the fourth win in the last six championship game, and got them two points away from the fourth place, their minimal goal. 

Alexis Sanchez played the main role again. He let the QPR's goalie save the eleven meter shot in the 9th minute, but scored with his head in the 37th. In the 65th minute, he assisted for the Arsenal's second goal. In the meantime, by the beginning of the second half-time, Giroud got a red card, and Wenger's team had to play with ten players on the field. 

Sanchez is the most efficient player of the league with 15 goals, next to Kane from Tottenham, counting all the competitions. In the championship, he scored ten and assisted six goals, that is, he took part in exactly half of the 32 goals his team scored total. Fabregas (12) and Sigurdsson (8) are better assistants than he is.

- Even though Giroud pissed me off by getting sent off, which caused us to have to save the win against QPR in a game where we dominated until he got sent off, we have to quickly move on to the practice and focus on the duel against West Ham, who've been playing greatly this season - Arsene Wenger said. He'll probably push Welbeck from the wing to the offense, even though there's an option of the recovered Walcott getting to play.

Arteta, Ramsey and Özil are still missing from the midfield, but that didn't show against the weaker rivals. So, Arsenal got four wins in the last six championship matches. 

- Sleeping, resting, going to the game and trying to repeat the best moments from the last few games. That's the simplest plan of getting ready and the tactics we designed for this game. Like always, we'll strive to win - Wenger kept it simple. Arsenal are not giving up on their tactics, and what they fear most are the opponent's firmness and rough duels. West Ham could take advantage of that and try to stop the thinned Wenger's lineup. 

According to the both team's orientation, and everything that happened in the season so far, and the current moment and the tradition in the last years, the duel between West Ham and Arsenal should bring a lot of goals. If that really happens, this match is a great pick. A lot of options are offered, from the safe bets where both will score, to the risky picks where the home team will score two or more goals. The middle is in - both will score plus three, and that's the one we'll pick. West Ham won six out of the last seven matches at home, always played bravely, whether they faced Manchester City and Liverpool, or QPR and Leicester. They all lost in the north London, and conceded at least two goals. So, it's not impossible that the same should happen to Arsenal who aren't convincing in away games, and conceded two goals four times, and three goals in Stoke. Arsenal also scored goals, their philosophy is never a defensive one, especially not in the English championship against weaker teams or even rivals.
So, trying to trick each other and quickly take action from one side of the field to the other should mark this city derby in the eastern London. Take a look at the last two seasons, that's what all four games looked like. True, Arsenal won all four convincingly, but also conceded a goal each time. Now, West Ham are stronger and dare to think of a positive result, but from everything you can conclude from both teams' announcements, they won't play to get a point here, because both believe they can get the win, and you can't get a win if you don't score.