West Ham are playing Arsenal at the London Stadium. The atmosphere is described as cracking. West Ham started with Bowen and Summerville as two No10s rather than orthodox wingers.
Arsenal are in their cream change strip and kicked off from right to left as we watch.
Early Exchanges and Tactical Setups
The game is starting to settle into the expected pattern: patient Arsenal possession interwoven with urgent West Ham counter-attacking.
Some good early possession for West Ham.
After a patient move from Arsenal, Saka thrashed a cross-shot that is comfortably held by Hermansen.
Rice Returns to Face Former Club
Declan Rice is being booed every time he touches the ball. Is that news?
Team Lineups and Manager Thoughts
West Ham (5-2-2-1): Hermansen; Wan-Bissaka, Disasi, Todibo, Mavropanos, Diouf; Soucek, Fernandes; Bowen, Summerville; Castellanos.
Subs: Areola, Walker-Peters, Kilman, Wilson, Pablo, Magassa, Scarles, Potts, Kante.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Eze, Rice, Lewis-Skelly; Saka, Gyokeres, Trossard.
Subs: Arrizabalaga, Mosquera, Hincapie, Odegaard, Martinelli, Madueke, Havertz, Zubimendi, Dowman.
Nuno Espirito Santo shared his pre-match thoughts: double quotation markIt’s a hugely important game for us. We are at home – the London Stadium has been good for us – and we need to compete with a very good opponent.
Nuno Espirito Santo added: double quotation markThe fans have been huge for us. They know that we need their energy and their noise.
On switching to a back five, Nuno Espirito Santo said: double quotation markArsenal have a lot of threats so we have to be focussed. Also, the players on the bench are gonna be very important for us. Let’s go.
Mikel Arteta shared his pre-match thoughts. double quotation mark[On his 500th game at Arsenal: 150 as a player, 350 as a manager] It’s been a long time now! Very proud of that, and we know what is at stake. We know the magnitude of the game – and how much we want it.
Mikel Arteta added: double quotation mark[Is today a day for fire or ice?] Warm hearts, cool heads. We need to be emotionally stable and we want to dominate, as we’ve been doing.
double quotation mark[On naming an unchanged side for the first game in a row] We’ve found a lot of fluidity and a lot of threat. We also have the option to change the approach if we need to.
Mikel Arteta stated: double quotation markWe knew they might [switch to a back five]. Nuno has played so many years with that formation so it’s not a surprise.
Arsenal are without a league title for 22 years.