Mark Lawrenson has parked himself firmly on the fence ahead of the match against the Gooners on Sunday.

But he appears to believe that manager David Moyes will be tempted to perhaps tweak things after the defensive set up he employed against Manchester United.

However, he believes the underlying message will be that we must not lose the game so maybe there won’t be too much tinkering with the starting eleven.

It’s an approach that will be required against a team that doesn’t enjoy being pushed onto the back foot.

With the north Londoners in 10th place and us needing a win to again confirm our European ambitions a tough encounter is on the place as they look to climb.

Lawrenson, however, is going for a draw explaining that the Hammers boss and squad will simply be wanting to stay in the mix.

Commenting in his BBC website column he said: “This feels like a big game for West Ham, as a test of their top-four aspirations, and I think the underlying message from their manager David Moyes will be ‘let’s not lose it’. All his side need to do is stay in the mix.

Moyes did not quite get the balance right last week when West Ham lost at Old Trafford, so he might tweak a few things to ensure they offer more of a threat.

It will be interesting to see how Arsenal approach it too. They were attack-minded against Tottenham last week, and were rewarded with the three points.”

Lawro’s prediction: 1-1