Few West Ham fans will conjure up the enthusiasm to suggest their side is going to grab an unlikely victory tomorrow against the Champions designate. However, London Stadium has become something of a fortress this year with West Ham unbeaten at home in the last six and the Irons do have previous when it comes to raining on the parade of would-be-Champions.
“Beware Arsenal and Mikel Arteta! Why title contenders should fear facing West Ham United in Premier League run-in”
Shouts TNT Sports’ own report today. Pep Guardiola was warned, apparently, about the potential banana skin of facing West Ham in March, and it turned out to be justified with his title chasing Manchester City drawing 1-1 in east London.
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“History suggests that West Ham love nothing more than to throw a spanner in the works for teams chasing the Premier League crown… Since suffering a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest on January 6, the Hammers have been unbeaten at the London Stadium in nine matches across 90 minutes in all competitions.
The report then recounts the instances where Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal themselves as recently in 2024/5 took it for granted against West Ham and came unstuck as their Championship hopes died against the Hammers.
And in a delicious post script, TNT remind readers of the encounter from four years ago as a final warning to Arteta:
“During Arsenal’s first title challenge under Mikel Arteta during the 2022/23 campaign, the team’s season started to unravel after they blew a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 against a Declan Rice-inspired West Ham.”
Strange thing football, when the final score could be 1-0 to West Ham or 6-0 to Arsenal.