ARSENAL
Premier League, Emirates Stadium, Thursday 28 December 2023, 8.15pm GMT
For the second festive season in a row, West Ham United will belatedly celebrate Christmas with a Premier League away fixture at Arsenal.
The Hammers visited Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day 2022, when we took a lead into half-time before ultimately being defeated 3-1.
Since then, the Gunners have gone close to winning the title before ultimately being edged out by Manchester City, defeated the same opponents to win the FA Community Shield and started the current campaign in superb form domestically and in Europe.
West Ham, of course, have won the UEFA Europa Conference League, spent time at the top of the Premier League table and secured their place in the Europa League knockout stages.
The two local London rivals will meet on Thursday 28 December for an 8.15pm kick-off that will be screened live in the UK by Amazon Prime Sport and across the world by the Premier League’s international broadcast partners.
How to get there…
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, North London line and Great Northern rail) stations.
Crowd management and queuing systems will be place at all three stations after the game.
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.
Where to stay…
At home, most likely, seeing as Emirates Stadium is situated just five miles west of London Stadium!
Of course, if you’re travelling to London from outside the capital, there are literally thousands of hotels, guest houses, apartments and more to choose from if you need overnight accommodation.
It is the festive season, of course, so options may be limited and/or expensive.
What to do…
London, of course, has attractions for all the family and to suit all budgets and tastes.
While the capital’s top tourist spots are well-known, let’s concentrate instead on things to do in and around north London.
You could have a walk up to Alexandra Palace and take in the superb view southwards across the London skyline, although bear in mind that the PDC World Darts Championship will be taking place, so the area will be busy!
If you’d rather do something nearer the centre of the city before jumping on the train or Tube to Emirates Stadium, have a stroll around Regent’s Park and visit London Zoo, which is open from 10am-4pm, with last entry at 3pm.
Directly north of Regent’s Park is Primrose Hill, which also offers fantastic views across central London to the south.
Between Regent’s Park and the Emirates is the trendy Borough of Camden, which is home to a wide variety of eateries, pubs, bars and independent shops.
Speaking of places to eat, drink and be merry, Upper Street, which runs directly north from Angel Underground station to Highbury & Islington station, is also full of bars, pubs and restaurants.
What’s happened there before…
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.
Since then, however, it would be fair to say we’ve not enjoyed too many of our trips to N5.
We’ve lost on our last eight visits to the Emirates – seven in the Premier League and one in the EFL Cup early in David Moyes’ first spell in charge – and have tasted defeat on 14 of our 17 games there overall, winning twice and drawing once.
Our most-recent win 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.