Arsenal take on West Ham at the Boleyn Ground this afternoon.
The Gunners must beat the Hammers to stand any chance of catching high-flying Leicester City, while a win for Slaven Bilic’s side still gives them some hope of clinching a top four finish come the end of the season.
It promises to be an intense and exciting to game to watch, so here are, courtesy of OPTA, 10 match facts and stats about both sides prior the 12:45pm kick-off:
1. West Ham are looking to win both home and away matches against Arsenal in the same Premier League season for the first time since 2006/07.
2. Arsenal’s defeat to the Hammers (0-2) on opening weekend of the 2015/16 season ended a run of nine consecutive Premier League wins against them.
3. Cheikhou Kouyate has scored in two of his three Premier League games for West Ham against the Gunners.
4. Arsene Wenger has won nine and lost just two of his 16 Premier League visits to the Boleyn Ground (W9 D5 L2). The only away grounds he’s won more often at in the Premier League are Goodison and Villa Park (both 10 wins).
5. Olivier Giroud has found the net five times in six Premier League games against West Ham; but just one of these has been netted at the Boleyn Ground.
6. Alex Iwobi has scored in both of his first two Premier League starts for Arsenal, something only Ian Wright and Davor Suker (scored in first three) also managed.
7. Dimitri Payet has netted four direct free-kick goals for West Ham this season in all competitions, a haul only Chelsea’s Willian can better (six).
8. The Hammers are unbeaten in their last 13 home games (W7 D6), the longest such current run in the top-flight.
9. The Gunners have made a league-high 22 errors leading to opposition shots this season.
10. Bilic’s side have the best record in Premier League London derbies this season, picking up 14 points from seven games (Arsenal have only managed five points from six games so far).
