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2023/24 English Premier League
Matchday 19
Arsenal v West Ham United
Emirates Stadium
London, England
Thursday, 28 December 2023
Kick-off is at 22h15
West Ham will be in buoyant mood when they lock horns with
Premier League leaders Arsenal in a London derby at the Emirates Stadium on Thursday, December 28.
The Hammers beat Manchester United 2-0 at the London Stadium on December 23 despite not having much possession, although they created plenty of chances before scoring twice in the space of six second-half minutes.
It was their third win in four games and a second consecutive clean sheet as David Moyes' side leapfrogged Brighton (9th), the Red Devils (8th) and Newcastle (7th) into sixth place.
Suggested photo: Martin Odegaard of Arsenal
Mikel Arteta's side maintained their one-point lead over Liverpool (2nd) and Aston Villa (3rd) following a 1-1 draw at Anfield, while Tottenham closed within four points of their arch-rivals courtesy of a 2-1 victory over Everton at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which took them back into the top four.
Martin Odegaard is having another influential season in the capital, although he hasn't quite hit the numbers of 2022-23 at the same stage. The Norwegian's pin-point free-kick was headed home by Gabriel after just four minutes on Merseyside to make it four assists for the campaign along with four goals from his 15 appearances.
Mohammed Kudus is enjoying a promising start to life in East London and his fine form has helped the Irons make a push for UEFA Champions League football. The former Ajax winger sealed the win against United with a clinical finish from just inside the box to register his sixth goal in 15 games.
Arteta hailed his players for a "phenomenal" performance at Anfield, although he revealed there was an element of regret in the dressing room afterwards for not claiming all three points.
"One of the most intense, active games that I have witnessed in 20 years in this league, and I'm just really proud of the team because they really were at the best today," the Spaniard said.
"We have the level, we have raised the level to the level that we needed to compete with them. What the boys did in this ground today, it's phenomenal.
"They left everything [out there] but the feeling in the last 20 minutes was that we're dominant enough to put a chance away and win the game. But overall, I think it's a fair result."
Moyes was pleased with the response from his players after they were battered 5-1 by the Reds in the EFL Cup three days earlier and is hopeful the team can continue to challenge higher up the table.
"Thirty points for us at this point of the season is really top," the Scot said. "We've had a great start to the season.
"We did a good job today - we played two days ago and came back with a real disappointment, but we got players ready. We had some fresh [legs] to play, thank goodness we did, and we showed it in the second half.
"Any win in the Premier League is really hard. We've got nine wins now and that's a great total for us. We'll try to kick on and hang in with the boys at the top, but it's really difficult with what a lot of these clubs have got. But a great result today."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
Arsenal - 3
West Ham - 0
Draws - 2
Premier League Matchday 19 fixtures:
Tuesday, December 26
14h30: Newcastle United v Nottingham Forest
17h00: Bournemouth v Fulham
17h00: Sheffield United v Luton Town
19h30: Burnley v Liverpool
22h00: Manchester United v Aston Villa
Wednesday, December 27
21h30: Brentford v Wolverhampton Wanderers
21h30: Chelsea v Crystal Palace
22h15: Everton v Manchester City
Thursday, December 28
21h30: Brighton & Hove Albion v Tottenham Hotspur
22h15: Arsenal v West Ham United
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