West Ham v Arsenal: Wenger to celebrate rare Allardyce triumph
Published:Arsenal can call Upton Park one of their happiest hunting grounds and even the sight of Sam Allardyce in the home dugout will not prevent them leaving with another three points.
It is 5/6 that the Gunners do get back to winning ways in the Premier League after their home defeat in another London derby with Chelsea.
They are unbeaten in eight successive Premier League meetings with the Hammers, securing victory on six of these occasions.
Furthermore, their more recent away form in the top-flight is to be admired, losing just one of their last 11 on the road.
The negative for Arsenal is that Arsene Wenger does not have the greatest track record in previous meetings with Allardyce, largely from his previous time as Bolton boss.
Wenger has only beaten Allardyce twice in away games from nine attempts in the Premier League, with the physical and combative nature of his teams often proving hard to cope with.
A similar style can be expected this time, with Andy Carroll also back pushing for a start for the Hammers after being absent of late because of an injury picked up on his debut.
Meanwhile, all of the last three goals that Arsenal have conceded have come from dead-ball situations.
West Ham have already won derbies with Fulham and QPR this season and are 16/5 to beat Arsenal, with the draw available at 5/2.
Looking at the last 11 meetings between the London rivals, it is interesting that on only two occasions have both teams managed to find the target.
This could make 6/5 an attractive price that both teams fail to score here, while the fact that no team has conceded fewer away goals than Arsenal this season may enhance the prospect of a Gunners win to nil, which can be backed at 12/5.
For Arsenal to simply keep a clean sheet for the fourth time in five league visits to Upton Park, the price is 2/1.
All odds and markets correct as of publication
