Arsenal travel to West Ham on Wednesday evening, where they will be the favorites to progress into the next round of the EFL Cup. 2017 was the last time the two sides met in this competition and the Gunners won 1-0.
West Ham
The Irons got their hands on silverware last season, as they were triumphant in the Europa Conference League and they will want to repeat that feeling, which makes me believe this is a competition that David Moyes will take seriously. West Ham are in the top half of the Premier League table after ten matches, accumulating 14 points. Goal-scoring hasn't been an issue, netting in all but one of those matches, but they have also unfortunately only kept one clean sheet all season.
In Round 3, the Irons just edged Lincoln City with a 1-0 away victory. Tomas Soucek scored the winner with 20 minutes to go, but the it didn't look like there was a two league separation between the sides. Having said that, West Ham go into this tie off the back of three consecutive defeats in all competitions and the latest of those was this weekend's 1-0 home defeat to Everton, where they were underwhelming and visibly frustrated.
Arsenal
The Gunners are unbeaten in all domestic competitions this season and even if Mikel Arteta decides to rotate, their is plenty of quality waiting for an opportunity to showcase their talent. In the Premier League, Arsenal have scored 23 goals, conceded only 8 and sit in 2nd place. That strong defensive record only gets better when on the road, as they have only conceded twice this season when travelling and they came in the recent 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge.
To progress into Round 4, Arsenal narrowly beat Brentford 1-0, thanks to an early Reiss Nelson strike. Although the Gunners had most of the ball, the Bees were the far more threatening side and they will feel that they deserved to win the tie. However, Arteta's side come into this game after a confident 5-0 victory over Sheffield United, where the boss was provided with a chance to rotate some of the squad.
Verdict?
West Ham have hit a bump in the road over the last few weeks and for Moyes, the performance may be more important than the actual result. Arsenal are expected to have plenty of the ball and the only way they get caught out, is on the counter attack or from a set piece. If the Gunners do not become complacent, they will book a spot in the next round.
The final prediction is West Ham 0-2 Arsenal.
