Declan Rice returns to West Ham as Hammers name unchanged team – starting XIs and how to follow

West Ham host London rivals Arsenal this afternoon, with both teams looking to build on impressive victories.

The Hammers produced a classic away performance to seal three points at Newcastle on Monday night in a much-needed boost.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka was on target as West Ham beat Newcastle on Monday night

The pressure was hugely on Julen Lopetegui to get a result, and they left Tyneside with a 2-0 win thanks to goals from Tomas Soucek and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.

Meanwhile, Arsenal ended their mini-winless league run with an emphatic victory over Nottingham Forest.

The Gunners then battered Sporting Lisbon 5-1 in midweek, so their confidence will be high ahead of the short trip across the capital.

West Ham vs Arsenal: Rice’s return

This will be the third time that Declan Rice has played at the London Stadium since his £105million move to Arsenal.

Read more on Premier League

This is because the Gunners faced the Hammers in the Carabao Cup last year away from home.

On his last visit, he scored in a 6-0 win for Arsenal and refused to celebrate as a mark of respect to his former club.

He made 245 appearances for West Ham, starting as a centre-back before turning into an all-action midfielder.

He also helped them win the Europa Conference League title, so certainly left his mark while in east London.

The reception he received last year was mixed, so it will be interesting to see what happens this time.

Rice had a great time at West Ham

Rice had a great time at West Ham
  • West Ham have lost more Premier League games overall (36) and at home (15) against Arsenal than they have vs any other opponent in the competition.
  • Arsenal have lost just one of their last 16 Premier League away games against West Ham (W10 D5), winning this exact fixture 6-0 last season.
  • West Ham have lost their last two home London derbies in the Premier League, going down 2-0 against Fulham and 3-0 against Chelsea. They last lost three in a row in December 2019, while they last did so without scoring in December 2008 – both runs included defeat to Arsenal.
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West Ham vs Arsenal: Date and how to follow

This Premier League game is set to take place on Saturday, November 30.

Kick-off at the London Stadium is scheduled for 5:30pm.

The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and Premier League.

Sky Go customers will be able to stream the action through their laptops or mobile devices. Alternatively, a NOW TV pass can be purchased.

talkSPORT will have updates throughout the afternoon, and talkSPORT.com will have regular updates on our dedicated Premier League blog.

To tune in to talkSPORT through the website, click HERE for the live stream.

You can also listen via the talkSPORT app, on DAB digital radio, through your smart speaker and on 1089 or 1053 AM.

Suddenly, the positivity is back at Arsenal

Suddenly, the positivity is back at ArsenalCredit: Getty
  • Since the start of 2022-23, Arsenal have lost just two of their 26 London derby matches in the Premier League (W18 D6). One of these was against West Ham, which was the only one of the 26 games in which they’ve failed to score (0-2 in December 2023).
  • West Ham have earned seven points from their last three Premier League home games (W2 D1), as many as they had from their previous nine at the London Stadium (W1 D4 L4).
  • Having won 10 of their first 11 Premier League away games in 2024 (D1), Arsenal are now winless in their last four on the road (D2 L2). It’s their longest such run without a win since a run of seven between December 2019 and June 2020, the final six games of which were Mikel Arteta’s first in charge of the Gunners away from home.

West Ham vs Arsenal: Teams

West Ham: Fabianski, Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Emerson, Soucek, Soler, Bowen, Paqueta, Antonio

Subs: Areola, Ings, Alvarez, Guilherme, Rodriguez, Irving, Scarles, Mayers

Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice, Saka, Trossard, Havertz

Subs: Neto, Tierney, Jesus, Martinelli, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Sterling, Nichols, Nwaneri

  • Following their 2-0 win at Newcastle last time out, West Ham are looking to pick up consecutive Premier League victories for the first time since March. Meanwhile, they could keep three consecutive clean sheets for the first time since a run of four in December/January last season, the third game of which was a 2-0 win over Arsenal.
  • No player has scored more Premier League goals for West Ham this season than Tomás Soucek (3). 17 of his last 18 strikes for the Hammers have either put them one goal ahead (12) or drawn them level (5) in the match.
  • Bukayo Saka has been involved in 21 goals in his last 25 London derby matches in the Premier League (9 goals, 12 assists), including five in his last six against West Ham. Overall he has 28 goal involvements in such matches (13 goals, 15 assists), with only four players registering more for Arsenal (Thierry Henry 55, Dennis Bergkamp 38, Robin van Persie 33, Ian Wright 32).
  • Only Mohamed Salah (16) has been involved in more Premier League goals this season than Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka (12 – 4 goals, 8 assists). Indeed, Saka has both scored and assisted in three different games this term, with only Salah again doing so more (4).

West Ham vs Arsenal: What has been said?

After a bit of a tricky spell for Arsenal, the Gunners are back on form, and Arteta has revealed that the confidence is back.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, he said: Obviously, winning lifts the energy and the confidence up.

“They were two big wins for us and now it’s about consistency, getting that momentum we are in and taking it even further against a really good opponent tomorrow and try to replicate the performance to win the game.”

West Ham vs Arsenal: talkSPORT BET Odds

Match odds:

West Ham – 6/1

Draw – 18/5

Arsenal – 2/5

Bet Boost – Arsenal to win, Saka to score & Paqueta to be carded @ 8/1 (was 13/2)

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