West Brom 3-1 Arsenal: Premier League as it happened

That is all for this particular live blog, but stay with IBTimes UK for live coverage of five 15.00 GMT Premier League kick-offs including Stoke vs Chelsea and West Ham vs Leicester.

Goodbye.

Wretched Arsenal taste defeat away from home for the third league match running.

They have now lost four out of five top-flight games for the very first time under Wenger. It is impossible to envisage a situation where the long-serving Frenchman continues in his current role beyond the summer.

The Gunners were defensively inept, but that should not detract from a marvellous victory for West Brom. The Baggies know their strengths and utilised them well to match their 43-point tally from 2015-16.

Full-time

West Brom 3-1 Arsenal

With the last kick of the game, Ramsey launches a woeful shot high and wide.

That just about sums it up.

Field, in behind the Arsenal backline, shows commendable maturity to head to the corner flag instead of trying to extend West Brom's lead even further.

He is eventually dispossessed by Monreal.

Good defending from Field to head away Iwobi's cross at the near post.

18-year-old academy graduate Sam Field comes on for West Brom with two minutes remaining.

He replaces Chadli.

Many Arsenal supporters are filmed making their way to the exits as Mustafi fails to trouble Foster.

You can hardly blame them.

Chants of 'Ole' ring around The Hawthorns as West Brom stroke the ball around with ease.

Arsenal look beaten and listless. This is turning into another harrowing afternoon for Wenger, who will surely not be offered a contract extension.

Sanchez, clearly not 100% after that first-half challenge from McClean, makes way for Alex Iwobi.

It's safe to say that third and final change has not been well received by the exasperated away fans.

Wenger spoke about West Brom's enormous set-piece threat before kick-off, but it appears that those concerns did not filter down to his team.

Dawson is again the benefactor of more lazy marking, brushing past Oxlade-Chamberlain and emphatically heading McClean's corner beyond the helpless Ospina.

Arsenal just do not learn.

Goal: West Brom 3-1 Arsenal (Craig Dawson)

Pulis sends on Yacob in place of Brunt.

Under 20 minutes remaining for West Brom to hold on and secure back-to-back home wins against Arsenal for the first time since the 1950s.

A scrambling Ospina just does enough to deny Robson-Kanu his second goal of the afternoon. Mustafi then crucially blocks from Chadli and Brunt blazes a shot into row z.

Xhaka's corner is headed against the crossbar by Welbeck and Mustafi goes down under the challenge of Robson-Kanu.

No penalty.

Walcott wins a corner and is then quickly replaced by Giroud.

McClean, clearly standing in an offside position, wisely chose not to interfere there and instead let the ball run through his legs.

The Arsenal defenders and Wenger appeal angrily for a flag, but the goal is confirmed after a brief discussion between the referee and his assistant on the far side.

Controversial?

Talk about a swift impact. Robson-Kanu, much-maligned for his lack of scoring prowess at Reading, restores West Brom's lead just 74 seconds after coming on.

The Wales favourite prods home after Ospina fails to clear up following an attempted one-two between McClean and Chadli.

Goal: West Brom 2-1 Arsenal (Hal Robson-Kanu)

Having failed to end his recent goal drought, Rondon makes way for Robson-Kanu just nine minutes after the interval.

A shake of the head and a quick return to the dressing room rather suggests that he might be injured.

Rondon gets up above Koscielny to nod an exquisite left-wing Brunt cross wide. What a chance.

Just moments before, West Brom were forced to clear their lines after good play from the otherwise anonymous Walcott led to a corner.

Sanchez complains bitterly to the referee after a tussle with Dawson. That knock certainly does not seem to have diluted his competitive spirit.

Sanchez emerges for the second period at The Hawthorns. Given how poorly he was moving towards the end of the first half, that is something of a surprise.

Let's see how long he lasts.

They simply cannot afford to lose him...

From early goals to embarrassing rival banners and injury blows, that eventful first half was certainly not short on talking points.

Sanchez levelled the score with his 18th goal of the season shortly after Dawson's close-range header, but it would not be a surprise to see him follow Cech into the treatment room at half-time.

One to keep an eye on, certainly.

Half-time

West Brom 1-1 Arsenal

Sanchez returns to the action as the fourth official signals three minutes of added time.

Sanchez gingerly makes his way to the touchline and applies water to his ankle. Arsenal fans will hope that is nothing more than an impact injury that can be successfully run off.

Xhaka drives a disappointing effort over the crossbar and McClean is rightly cautioned for a heavy challenge on Sanchez, who stays down in considerable discomfort.

Surely not another injury for Wenger to contend with?

Cech limps off the pitch and straight down the tunnel, leading to a rare Premier League outing for David Ospina.

Arsenal can now add Cech's name to their mounting injury list. The veteran goalkeeper looks to have suffered a leg injury while making a routine pass to Mustafi and will not be able to continue.

Furious action at both ends.

After the clever Ramsey is denied by a strong low save from Foster and Nyom ensures that Walcott is unable to turn home the rebound, Cech makes a fine stop to keep out Darren Fletcher's potent volley.

West Brom then fail to capitalise on dangerous cross from Dawson.

Chadli strides down the Arsenal left and tees up Rondon with an inviting through ball.

The powerful Venezuelan, unable to shake off the attentions of Shkodran Mustafi, drags a shot wide.

Arsenal just about survive another West Brom corner and Sanchez is prevented from leading a swift break thanks to a clumsy foul from Rondon.

The Chilean demands a yellow card, but referee Swarbrick settles for a stern word in the ear.

Aaron Ramsey gets to the byline and lofts a cross towards the back post. Nyom is there to head away and wins a free-kick under pressure from Hector Bellerin.

All you can hear at the moment is the noise from those rival planes...

A pro-Wenger plane has now flown over the stadium trailing a banner that reads 'In Arsene We Trust'.

Deary me. This is peak Arsenal.

It has taken Arsenal just two-and-a-half minutes to restore parity.

With Dawson drawn infield and Chadli asleep, Sanchez controls a lofted pass from Granit Xhaka and demonstrates his nimble footwork before smashing a shot in off the underside of the crossbar.

As you were. Wretched defending from both teams early on.

Goal: West Brom 1-1 Arsenal (Alexis Sanchez)

West Brom demonstrate their formidable set-piece prowess once again. Dawson ghosts in unmarked to rise above Laurent Koscielny and head home Chadli's corner from close range.

Rank marking and poor goalkeeping from Cech, whose attempted punch was never likely to be successful.

Goal: West Brom 1-0 Arsenal (Craig Dawson)

Arsenal concede possession in sloppy fashion and West Brom spring forward on the counter-attack.

Cech beats away a fierce shot from McClean at the front post. Corner.

Former Tottenham winger Nacer Chadli picks out James McClean with a searching cross. However, the Irishman's tame header is easily claimed by Cech.

Sanchez finds Monreal on the overlap and only a crucial foot from Ben Foster prevents Walcott from finishing at the front post.

Allan Nyom purposefully charges down the left flank and makes his way to the byline. Instead of pulling the ball back for a simple Rondon tap-in, however, the full-back instead flashes a low pass across the six-yard box.

Had he shown more awareness there, West Brom could be 1-0 up already.

A certain section of Arsenal fans launched a crowdfunding campaign earlier this week in order to raise money for a protest banner to be flown over The Hawthorns.

A gloomy weather forecast was initially rumoured to have put paid to the idea, although it does now appear to have happened after all...

Plenty of early possession for Arsenal, with West Brom getting bodies behind the ball. No chances to speak of just yet.

We are underway at The Hawthorns. Arsenal, sporting their yellow and grey away strips, will kick from right to left in this first 45 minutes.

The two teams emerge from the tunnel. We are just minutes away from kick-off in the West Midlands.

Arsenal have never failed to find the back of the net in a top-flight meeting with West Brom and only Manchester City have notched more goals away from home.

They will not have fond memories of their last trip to these parts, however. In November 2015, an own goal from Mikel Arteta and a botched Cazorla penalty helped the hosts to fightback from an early deficit and secure their only win over the Gunners in their last 13 competitive meetings.

The visitors, who could have gone top of the league that day, also lost Francis Coquelin to a nasty knee injury.

Arsenal's sole representative in Southgate's first squad since being named as the permanent successor to Roy Hodgson is Oxlade-Chamberlain. Despite scoring 17 goals so far this term, Walcott was not included.

"That's a really tough call on him, and one I don't think he'll be particularly happy with," Southgate, without Harry Kane, Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturridge, said of his most controversial omission.

"But I wanted to have a look at a few others and he is still very much in our thinking. If he keeps playing well for his club there's no reason he can't force his way back in."

Welbeck was also left out, along with Bournemouth loanee Jack Wilshere.

Much of the talk around West Brom over recent days has related to Jake Livermore, a £10m January arrival from Hull City, being named in Gareth Southgate's England squad for matches against Germany and Lithuania.

Despite Saido Berahino also earning a call-up a couple of years ago, the Baggies haven't had an outfield player represent England since winger Steve Hunt way back in 1984.

"It's fantastic for myself, my family and the club," Livermore said. "But ultimately I owe a lot of it to my manager and to the players I'm playing with. They've been fantastic since I've got here."

Pulis has promised there is more to come from the 27-year-old, whose sole senior international cap to date came during a 2-1 friendly win over Italy in 2012.

Arsenal club captain Per Mertesacker is named on the bench for a Premier League game for the first time this season.

He is yet to make a first-team appearance in 2016-17.

Wenger provides reassurances that Ozil's hamstring injury is nothing serious...

Arsenal move to clarify that Ozil is actually suffering from a hamstring issue. Lucas' absence is also put down to a thigh problem.

Ozil does indeed miss out for Arsenal with a minor injury said to have been sustained during a training session on Friday.

Danny Welbeck starts up front, with chief support Oxlade-Chamberlain, who clearly passed that aforementioned fitness test, flanked by Theo Walcott and Sanchez. Olivier Giroud drops to the bench, where he will sit alongside the returning Elneny.

Gibbs has not recovered in time, so Nacho Monreal comes in at left-back. Lucas Perez, meanwhile, does not even make the matchday squad...

Pulis makes two changes to the West Brom side soundly beaten at Everton last weekend, with Claudio Yacob and Hal Robson-Kanu dropping to the bench in favour of Chris Brunt and Rondon.

As anticipated, Morrison and Phillips are both out. 17-year-old striker Jonathan Leko is promoted to a substitute's role.

Official team news coming your way very shortly...

An exciting update for anyone into their numismatics. Neil Swarbrick set to make history...

It's 12-sided, apparently. Very fancy.

News of a new injury blow for Arsenal...

As for Arsenal, Mohamed Elneny is now back in training after an ankle injury sustained during last month's FA Cup win at Sutton United.

Kieran Gibbs is uncertain due to an unspecified knock, while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was expected to undergo a fitness test on Thursday after limping out of that thrashing of Lincoln with a hamstring problem.

Long-term absentee Santi Cazorla is unlikely to play again this season.

In terms of early team news for today's game, West Brom pair James Morrison and Matt Phillips - both of whom were named in Gordon Strachan's latest Scotland squad for an upcoming international double-header against Canada and Slovenia - are considered doubtful due to respective ankle and hamstring injuries.

"We've missed Matty and it's been a big miss," Pulis, who could restore Salomon Rondon to his starting XI this afternoon, said during a pre-match press conference held on Friday. "When we put our top team out the balance of the team is good.

"When you're a competitive team you need a balance to win games as well as anything else. With Phillips in the team there's that balance and that player we do miss. That's a big thing."

It's only been a fortnight since Arsenal's last Premier League outing, but it feels like an eternity given all that has transpired since that 3-1 defeat at Liverpool. From Alexis Sanchez's training ground petulance to the growing Wenger Out protests and a truly humiliating 10-2 Champions League last-16 aggregate mauling at the hands of familiar foes Bayern Munich, a predictable FA Cup quarter-final rout of non-league Lincoln hardly papered over the gaping cracks.

Left fifth and five points adrift of Liverpool - albeit with two games in hand - following a run of three defeats from their last four top-flight games, the fractured Gunners could really do with a win this afternoon in order to boost the underfire Wenger's chances of at least preserving his two-decade run of finishing inside the top four.

Standing in their way is a West Bromwich Albion side that are seeking to avoid a third straight defeat and match their 43-point tally from 2015-16 with nine games still to play this season. Currently eighth, the uncompromising Baggies, typically strong at home and a real menace at set-pieces, have only managed to take a solitary point from nine games against the top seven so far this term and came unstuck at the Emirates Stadium on Boxing Day courtesy of a late header from Olivier Giroud.

Stay tuned for minute-by-minute updates of today's lunchtime clash at The Hawthorns after kick-off at 12.30 GMT. Injury lines, team news, confirmed line-ups and pre-match thoughts from both Tony Pulis and Wenger to come before then. Get comfy.