West Ham United pulled off a shocking 2-0 win over Newcastle United on Monday night to ease the pressure on manager Julen Lopetegui.
The Hammers came into the fixture as huge underdogs, with the team picking up one point from their previous matches against Nottingham Forest and Everton.
However, West Ham stunned their opponents in their own backyard, as they came away with a clean sheet and three points in the bag.
Lopetegui and his team now face a much sterner test with Arsenal’s visit to the London Stadium.
The Gunners are coming off the back of strong wins over Forest and Sporting Lisbon, and they will look to continue their momentum at the expense of West Ham.
BBC football pundit Chris Sutton credits Martin Odegaard, who has recently returned from injury, for Arsenal’s huge improvement.
The 51-year-old believes the influential midfielder will also make the difference for his side in Saturday’s match.
Sutton is backing the away team to come away with maximum points, despite the Hammers’ huge win over Newcastle.
Writing in his column for BBC Sport, he said: “Julen Lopetegui really needed Monday’s win at Newcastle after a difficult start as West Ham boss.
“He and his side will be buoyed by that but this is not a good time to be playing Arsenal, who are purring again now Martin Odegaard is back from injury.
“The Gunners were not in great form without Odegaard, but he makes them a different proposition and I am going to say he will make the difference in a very tight game”.
West Ham have had a largely disappointing 2024-25 campaign under Lopetegui. Winning four of their 12 matches, they are sitting 14th in the Premier League standings.
They were excellent against Newcastle, but Lopetegui must show that win wasn’t a one off by securing a good result on Saturday.