Tomas Rosicky
Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky wants to play more often after impressing against Queens Park Rangers on Boxing Day. Getty Images

West Ham host Arsenal at Upton Park on Sunday as the Gunners look to overtake the Hammers and close the gap on a top four spot.

Where to Watch

Kick-off is set for 3pm GMT. Catch highlights of the game on BBC Match of the Day on BBC One from 10:25pm GMT.

Overview

West Ham will be looking to avenge their defeat to Chelsea on Friday as they remain determined not to trail off after starting the season on a high.

Sam Allardyce's men have been holding their own despite stiff opposition. A win against Arsenal will increase the gap between the London clubs to four points.

Alex Song, who was rested against Chelsea is likely to play a part. On loan from Barcelona, he was part of the Arsenal line-up since he was 17. He was sold to the Catalan club in 2012 but has found the move detrimental to his career, as he struggled for game time.

The Cameroonian will be looking to show Arsene Wenger hat he has not lost his touch in Spain and give a performance which will bolster his stock as the transfer window approaches.

Arsenal will be wary of their performance against Queens Park Rangers at home after a comprehensive first-half performance.

The Gunners dominated the game most of the time but threw it all away as Olivier Giroud was sent off for a head butt on a QPR player. Down to 10 men, the Gunners sat deeper and deeper before Tomas Rosicky's strike brought a semblance of structure to the Arsenal defence.

However, a dubious penalty awarded by Martin Atkinson halved the deficit for the Rangers who put in a frenetic effort in the final 10 minutes, only to succumb to their ninth straight defeat away from home in the league.

Alex Song
Alex Song will Arsenal for the first time after moving out of the club Reuters

What Managers Say

Sam Allardyce: "You have to get at them. You have to get at them the right way and play the right way against Arsenal to make sure you can try to get sometimes at the defence, which can be suspect at times. But you have to be good enough on the ball to get at those areas. If you can do that maybe you can catch them out. Results-wise they have done very well against us at home, but performance-wise we have always been right in the game, only to fail to get anything from the games because of the quality Arsenal have shown."

Arsene Wenger: "I don't give importance to the table at the moment. There's 20 games to go. It's very tight and it's down to consistency now. We know every game now is down to consistency and reproducing the performances. We need to prepare quickly, focus quickly and that is an ability we want to show at West Ham. The plan is to sleep well and recover. We want to stay in the game. We'll train on Saturday morning and on Saturday night we go to the hotel. It's very quick and interesting as well."

Betting odds ((by 888Sport)

  • West Ham United to win: 13/5
  • Draw: 5/2
  • Arsenal to win: 12/11

Team form

West Ham

  • Last five (all competitions): W W D W L
  • Last result: Chelsea 3-0 West Ham

Arsenal

  • Last five (all competitions): L W W D W
  • Last result: Arsenal 2-1 QPR

Team News

West Ham United

  • Injured: Diafra Sakho
  • Doubtful: Mark Noble
  • Suspended:N/A

Possible XI: Adrian, Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell, Song, Kouyate, Nolan, Downing, Valencia, Carroll.

Arsenal

  • Injured: Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Mikel Arteta,
  • Doubtful: Laurent Koscielny
  • Suspended:Olivier Giroud

Possible XI: Szczesny; Debuchy, Mertescker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Flamini, Rosicky, Cazorla; Welbeck, Campbell, Sanchez

Arsenal FC