Arsenal vs West Ham Picks and Predictions: Alexandre Lacazette’s Chance to Make a Statement

Fourth plays sixth in the Premier League as David Moyes’ West Ham travels across London to face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal. Both teams are having good seasons and a win for either on Wednesday will give their hopes of finishing in the Champions League spots a huge boost. Don’t miss our Arsenal vs. West Ham tips and predictions.

Arsenal vs West Ham match odds

Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.

Compare EPL odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.

Arsenal vs West Ham betting tips

• Prediction: Arsenal moneyline (+110)
• Prediction: Over 2.5 goals (-125)
• Best bet: Alexandre Lacazette anytime goal (+150)

Predictions made on 12/13/2021 at 9:00 a.m. ET.
Click on each prediction to jump to the full analysis.

Arsenal vs West Ham game info

• Location: Emirates Stadium, London, England
• Date: Wednesday, December 15, 2021
• Time: 3:00 p.m. ET
• TV: NBCSN, Peacock Premium, fubo TV, Sling Blue, Hulu + Live TV

Arsenal vs West Ham betting preview

Weather

Temperatures will have dipped just below 50 degrees at kickoff but with very low winds and no rain we should see a great playing surface for the game.

Injuries

Arsenal: Sead Kolasinac (Out), Bernd Leno (Doubtful).
West Ham: Aaron Cresswell (Probable), Angelo Ogbonna (Out), Kurt Zouma (Out).

Arsenal vs West Ham predictions

Our predictions are compiled from the analysis of the spread and total and are indications of where we are leaning for this game.
Our best bet is the play that we like the most for this game, which we would actually put some of our bankroll behind.

Side analysis

Whisper it quietly, but both Arsenal and West Ham have had largely good seasons. The Hammers started how they finished last year, outperforming all expectations and getting manager David Moyes even more acclaim. Meanwhile, Arsenal have reached the end of their “banter era” and are now, for the first time since Arsene Wenger’s prime, a dangerous team. With both sets of supporters starting to dream again, they now face each other in a big game under the lights of the Emirates on Wednesday. 

West Ham may be happy to nab a single point from this game. They’ll be well aware of Arsenal’s improving fortunes and need to keep on accumulating points after a tricky spell. The Hammers have only won one of their last five in the Premier League. Admittedly, that was a brilliant 3-2 victory over Chelsea and that spell does include a trip to Manchester to face Man City, but they managed to lose to Wolves and draw with Burnley last time out. Both of those results are pretty poor when you consider the brilliant levels the team has played at over the past 12-18 months.

Arsenal have only won two of their past five, losing to Man Utd, Liverpool, and Everton in the process. The 3-0 win over Southampton this past weekend was an easy victory and they’ll be hoping they can now get on a good run that might propel them to the top four. With favorable fixtures coming up before the new year, there’s every chance they could be fourth by New Years Day.

Despite a huge improvement this term, Arsenal still have a negative goal difference (-1) and can sometimes be prone to collapses. I’m also not totally sold on some of the young players who form the core. Anybody with a social media account will be aware of how highly “starboys” Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith-Rowe are rated but they’re more hype than product so far. Saka in particular hasn’t really shone this season after creating a real impact for England at the Euros in the summer. 

The real stars for Arsenal have been those at the back. Aaron Ramsdale has been fantastic in goal and the center-back duo of Gabriel and Ben White looks better each week. The arrival of 23-year old Japanese defender Takehiro Tomiyasu cannot be overstated. He’s looked magnificent and is arguably one of the best signings in the league this season.

West Ham have struggled to get out of their lull recently and this is another tough ask. The Emirates has quietly (pun intended) become a fortress this season. The fans might not make much noise but this isn’t an easy place to go. The injuries to Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna are a huge loss for the Hammers, too. That defense had been fantastic this year, especially with Declan Rice sitting and shielding them, but now it’s been broken up.

Prediction: Arsenal (+110)

Over/Under analysis

West Ham have been free-scoring this year but, as mentioned above, now have a defense in shambles. It’s easy to see them giving up a couple of goals to Arsenal, who have scored eight in their past five despite only winning two of those games.

Fifty percent of Arsenal’s home games have seen Over 2.5 goals land compared with 57.1% of West Ham’s road games. Given the firepower that Arsenal have shown in past weeks, the brilliance of Michail Antonio, and the injuries to West Ham’s backline, we should see plenty of goals. Everything is pointing in our favor so back the Over here at very fair odds of -125.

Prediction: Over 2.5 Goals (-125)

Best bet

Alexandre Lacazette was meant to be the final piece of the puzzle for Arsenal. When he joined the club in 2017 he’d scored 100 goals in 203 games for Lyon. Since then he’s played 139 times for the Gunners scoring 52 times. It’s not that he’s bad, because he isn’t, but he’s failed to live up to expectations at times and it’s one of the reasons that he’s not appeared for France in the past four years, either.

Now 30-years old, we’ve often seen Lacazette moved around the team or to the bench, to accommodate others. However, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang suspended by the club, we’ll get to see him playing down the middle, where he’s at his best.

Lacazette opened the scoring for Arsenal in their 3-0 win over Southampton on Saturday and he’ll be hoping he can take his chance again on Wednesday. Given the injuries in the West Ham defense, it’s well worth backing the Frenchman to score and add another to his tally.

Pick: Alexandre Lacazette to score (+150)

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