West Ham v Arsenal LIVE: Team information and line-ups as Gabriel begins Premier League conflict

West Ham XI: Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson; Soler, Soucek, Paqueta; Bowen, Antonio, Summerville.

Subs: Areola, Coufal, Guilherme, Ings, Alvarez, Rodriguez, Irving, Scarles, Mayers.

Arsenal XI: Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Jorginho, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Trossard.

Subs: Neto, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Tierney, Nichols, Martinelli, Nwaneri, Sterling, Jesus.

The line-ups will be announced around 4.15pm, so here’s a reminder of the early team news.

The most notable omission for West Ham will be seen on the sidelines, with Lopetegui banned from the touchline after picking up his third booking of the season against Newcastle.

In a boost for the Hammers, Edson Alvarez returns from a recent suspension and his available for selection once again. Mohammed Kudus will meanwhile serve the last of his five-match ban.

Arsenal’s defensive injury woes may have been further exacerbated in midweek after Gabriel Magalhaes was forced off against Sporting with five minutes to play, with Arteta citing that the Brazilian was withdrawn after feeling ‘discomfort’.

This comes after Ben White underwent an operation to address a long-standing knee problem over the international break, which will leave him out of action for a number of months. Takehiro Tomiyasu is also unavailable due to a knee injury.

West Ham have lost more Premier League games overall (36) and at home (15) against Arsenal than they have versus any other opponent in the competition.

The Gunners have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League away games against West Ham (W10 D5), and won this exact fixture 6-0 last season.

This will be the 152nd meeting between the two sides (in their various forms), with the first dating back to a 1906 match between Woolwich Arsenal and West Ham United.

Overall, Arsenal have won 73 of these games, with the Hammer winning 41 and 37 ending as draws.

Last season, Arsenal lost 2-0 at the Emirates, though they won 6-0 in the reverse fixture.

Perhaps the most notable meeting between these two sides was the FA Cup final in 1980, which was West Ham’s last trophy win.

Arteta’s comments regarding Arsenal’s need to be near perfect for the remainder of the season have certainly come at a pertinent time, with the busy December calendar beginning tomorrow.

Last season, the Gunner lost to Villa early in the month before back-to-back defeats to West Ham and Fulham on the 28th and New Year’s Eve respectively, with these results of course turning out to be vitally important come the end of the season.

So who do Arsenal face this winter, and when?

4 December – Arsenal vs Manchester United, 8pm

8 December – Fulham v Arsenal, 2pm

11 December – Arsenal v Monaco, 8pm

14 December – Arsenal v Everton, 3pm

18 December – Arsenal v Crystal Palace, 7.30pm

21 December –Crystal Palace v Arsenal, 5.30pm

27 December – Arsenal v Ipswich, 8.15pm

1 January 2025 – Brentford v Arsenal, 5.30pm

The Gunners, who travel to West Ham on Saturday, head into the weekend fourth in the table and trail Arne Slot’s side by nine points after a run of four league games without a win prior to beating Nottingham Forest last weekend.

For any side facing potential relegation, December can be a key time to pick up points (or indeed fall further behind). So who will the Hammers be facing in the busy winter period?

3 December – Leicester City v West Ham, 8.15pm

9 December – West Ham v Wolves, 8pm

16 December – Bournemouth v West Ham, 8pm

21 December – West Ham v Brighton, 3pm

26 December – Southampton v West Ham, 3pm

29 December – West Ham v Liverpool, 5.15pm

Lopetegui came into the game under pressure following some poor displays from the Hammers in recent weeks but they earned a hard-fought victory to end the Magpies’ three-game winning spell.

Despite a promising opening from the hosts, Tomas Soucek headed West Ham in front before Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s first goal for the club after the break wrapped up victory.

Mikel Arteta hailed the best away European performance of his Arsenalreign after watching his side dismantle Sporting Lisbon 5-1.

The Gunners delivered the statement Champions League victory their manager had demanded to bounce back from a narrow defeat at Inter Milan last time out.

Goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard got their continental campaign back on track, lifting them to seventh place with 10 points in the new-look 36-team table.

Here’s the report from Arsenal’s last match…

Arteta wanted his team to prove their European credentials following some underwhelming displays away from home, and the Gunners manager got exactly what he asked for.