Arsenal v West Ham United
Premier League, Emirates Stadium, Saturday 22 February 2025, 3pm GMT
West Ham United are set to make the short trip to Arsenal for their third successive London derby on Saturday, looking to bounce back to winning ways in the Premier League.
Graham Potter's men currently sit 16th in the top-flight standings with 13 games of 2024/25 to go, and will be looking to build on an encouraging second-half display in last weekend's narrow defeat at the hands of Brentford, to kickstart a positive end to the campaign.
A clash against Mikel Arteta's title-challenging Gunners promises an undoubtedly tough task, but the Hammers will take plenty of heart from their 2-0 win last time out at the Emirates, when Tomáš Souček and Dinos Mavropanos strikes proved the difference in December 2023.
After missing out on the league title by two points to old foes Manchester City last term, the Gunners are once again firmly looking to get their hands on the coveted trophy for the first time since the Invincibles season of 2003/04.
The odds may be stacked against them - with Liverpool eight points clear at the top of the ranks as it stands - but Arsenal are surely full of confidence on the back of three wins in a row, and without defeat in the Premier League since the start of November.
They have been eliminated in the Emirates FA and Carabao Cups since the turn of the New Year, but they are so far flying in Europe, having comfortably secured passage to the UEFA Champions League round of 16 by finishing third in the 36-team group-stage table.
An enticing encounter lies in store in north London then, with both teams vying for victory for different reasons. Scroll below to find all the information you need ahead of kick-off...
Tickets…
West Ham fans are advised that the Club’s allocation of 3,003 tickets have sold out.
The first 90 per cent of tickets sold out to Bondholders and Season Ticket Holders with 29+ Loyalty Points. The remaining ten per cent (303 tickets) were then made available by a ballot process to Season Ticket Holders who had yet to purchase for this fixture. This ballot closed at 12noon on Monday 27 January.
Travel…
Supporters are strongly advised not to drive to this match.
Emirates Stadium is very well connected when it comes to public transport, with both Underground and mainline routes passing nearby.
The ground is within walking distance from Arsenal (Piccadilly line), Finsbury Park (Victoria and Piccadilly lines and Great Northern rail) and Highbury & Islington (Victoria line and Great Northern rail) stations. Crowd management and queuing systems will be in place at all three stations after the game.
There will be no service on the Windrush line between Highbury & Islington and New Cross/Clapham Junction/Battersea Park/Crystal Palace/West Croydon, with replacement buses in operation.
Supporters who use the Central line should note that there will be no service between Leytonstone and Hainault (via Newbury Park). Replacement buses will operate.
Supporters should note that Holloway Road station (Piccadilly line) will be exit-only before matches with pre-match eastbound trains non-stopping, and closed for up to two hours post-match.
Alternatively, you can take a TfL bus, with stops located on Holloway Road, Nag's Head, Seven Sisters Road, Blackstock Road and Highbury Corner.
Visit tfl.gov.uk to plan your route to and from the match.
Finally, if you cycle to the match, a parking area for bikes is clearly signposted.
How To Follow…
Saturday’s 3pm kick-off will NOT be broadcast live in the UK, but will be shown across the world by the Premier League’s international broadcast partners.
If you live outside the UK, click HERE for details of Premier League listings in your territory.
You can follow the action via our live blog on whufc.com and our app, and across our social media channels. We will also have highlights and exclusive reaction for you after the final whistle on our website and social media.
Live audio commentary will be available in the UK on BBC Radio 5 live and BBC Radio London, and worldwide on our official website and app.
Team News…
Evan Ferguson and James Ward-Prowse - who recently joined on loan from Brighton and returned from a temporary stint at Nottingham Forest respectively - will both be looking for more minutes after making an impact off the bench against Brentford last Saturday.
Jean-Clair Todibo returned to the matchday squad against the Bees, and he will be hoping to make his first appearance since early January at the Emirates after recovering from injury.
Vladimír Coufal and Łukasz Fabiański will be assessed after missing out against Brentford, while Michail Antonio, Crysencio Summerville and Niclas Füllkrug remain on the sidelines.
Opponents Arsenal also have a number of injury concerns, with Takehiro Tomiyasu, Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli all likely to be missing.
Opposition…
When Arsenal thumped Leeds United 4-1 at Emirates Stadium on 1 April 2023, it appeared just a matter of time before the Gunners were crowned Premier League champions for the first time since 2003/04.
Victory over the relegation-bound Yorkshire side - Mikel Arteta’s 100th as manager and Arsenal’s seventh top-flight win in a row - put Arsenal eight points clear at the top of the table with nine games to play.
Pundits purred at the way Arsenal were ‘cruising’ to victories. However, two months later, Arteta and his squad were wondering what might have been, as a run of three draws and three defeats in their closing nine matches saw Manchester City roar past their rivals to claim the title.
A year later, in 2023/24, Arsenal won 28 of their 38 Premier League matches, conceded just 29 goals, scored 91 and amassed 89 points - just one fewer than the 90 won by the ‘Invincibles’ 20 years earlier. After losing at home to West Ham United in late December, Arsenal tasted defeat just once in their final 18 matches, collecting 50 points from a possible 54.
And yet still that wasn’t enough.
Again, it was Manchester City who pipped the north Londoners to the crown, going unbeaten from 10 December until the end of the season and going top with a 2-0 win at Arsenal’s great rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the final week of the season. If losing the title in 2022/23 was galling, losing it in 2023/24 was devastating.
The question last summer, inevitably, was whether Arsenal had it in them to mount another title challenge?
Up to this point, while Manchester City have been a shadow of their former selves, and are currently immersed in a battle to finish in the top four, the Gunners have been forced to play second fiddle to a Liverpool side who have grown to new levels under Arne Slot, following the departure of Jürgen Klopp.
A seven-game unbeaten start to 2024/25 powered Arteta's troops to within a point of the summit by the start of October, but two defeats in the following three games - away at Bournemouth and Newcastle - and five draws since have left Liverpool as the heavy favourites to lift the trophy come the end of May.
The Gunners have been struck by a number of injuries to key players, with the likes of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli all set to miss out against West Ham this weekend. Indeed, summer signing Mikel Merino proved the unlikely attacking hero last time out, scoring two late goals away at Leicester to help secure three crucial points.
Without defeat since that aforementioned clash at Newcastle in early November, it's safe to say that Arsenal won't lie down anytime soon in their pursuit of Premier League glory, and they will be hellbent on bridging the eight-point gap between themselves and Liverpool as much as possible before their mouth-watering trip to Anfield on 10 May.
Away from the top-flight, Arsenal fell to Manchester United at the first hurdle in the Emirates FA Cup, and to Newcastle again in the Carabao Cup semi-finals, however they have been impressive in Europe, cruising into the UEFA Champions League last 16 by finishing third in the group-stage table.
With around three months of the season remaining, could the Gunners pull off the kind of comeback exhibited at their expense by Manchester City in the Premier League, and marry that with success on the continent? Time will tell...
Previous Meetings…
West Ham United were the first visiting team to win at Emirates Stadium after Arsenal opened their new home in the summer of 2006.
The Irons were struggling in the Premier League when Bobby Zamora struck a long-range winner and Robert Green’s unbeatable performance in goal secured a shock 1-0 victory over the Gunners in April 2007.
We ended a run of eight straight defeats in N5 - seven in the Premier League and one in the EFL Cup - when Tomáš Souček and Dinos Mavropanos scored in a 2-0 win at the end of December 2023.
However, we have tasted defeat on 14 of our 18 visits to Emirates Stadium overall, winning three times and drawing once.
Our other Premier League victory at Emirates Stadium was under Slaven Bilić in August 2015, when Cheikhou Kouyaté and Mauro Zárate found the net on Dimitri Payet’s Premier League debut for the Club.
West Ham's last meeting with Arsenal, at London Stadium in late November 2024, ended in a whirlwind 5-2 defeat, with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Emerson netting in quick succession for the Hammers close to half-time.
Match Officials…
Referee: Craig Pawson
Assistant Referees: Simon Bennett and Dan Robathan
Fourth Official: Andrew Kitchen
VAR: Peter Bankes
Assistant VAR: Nick Hopton
Craig Pawson has been confirmed as the referee for West Ham United’s Premier League trip to London rivals Arsenal on Saturday.
One of the country’s most experienced officials, the 45-year-old has been a part of the Select Group of Referees since 2013 and has held the whistle 14 times in the Premier League so far this campaign, as well as in the UEFA Europa League, Champions League and Europa Conference League qualifying, the UEFA Nations League, the EFL Cup and EFL Championship.
Pawson has previously taken charge of the 2017/18 EFL Cup and 2021/22 FA Cup finals, as well as two Community Shield clashes, in 2016 and 2022.
He has refereed 25 fixtures involving the Hammers during his esteemed career, most recently the 3-2 triumph over Fulham last month, in what was Graham Potter’s first match in charge at London Stadium. Pawson has also served as the fourth official in three West Ham games this term, including at Nottingham Forest at the start of November.
For more information about the officials, click HERE.
