Julen Lopetegui West Ham Arsenal badges
Julen Lopetegui's West Ham prepare to face Arsenal [Credit: Imago]
Dan Godfrey
Fri 29 November 2024 12:10, UK
West Ham United are likely to give Julen Lopetegui the benefit of the doubt even if they are beaten by Arsenal this Saturday.
The Gunners make the short trip to the London Stadium to face Lopetegui’s side, who arguably saved his job for the time being with a hard-fought 2-0 win at Newcastle United on Monday [25 November].
The Spaniard would very possibly have faced the chop after just 14 games in charge had his men returned empty-handed from Tyneside.
However, he lives to fight another day against an Arsenal outfit who have rediscovered their mojo by sweeping aside both Nottingham Forest and Sporting in the past week, not to mention storming to a 6-0 win on their last East End visit back in February.
And you have to think that the victory of Newcastle means the board won’t pull the trigger now regardless of what happens against the Gunners.
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Julen Lopetegui to stay even if Arsenal beat West Ham
West Ham were underdogs at Newcastle but, despite the home advantage, they are certainly such again this weekend.
Disregarding how the fan apathy would come across should Arsenal repeat a result anywhere close to last season’s in this fixture, a narrow defeat in a tough battle is likely to maintain a degree of confidence in Lopetegui.
As much as anything else, he is Tim Steidten’s man and for the board to part with Lopetegui this early after losing to a Champions League-level opponent would show a battering to the technical director’s pride.
The Hammers do have players who can hurt Arsenal. Lopetegui tends to edge towards giving game time to several of the old guard; four of the players who started Monday’s win at Newcastle also featured when they took an impressive 2-0 win home from the Emirates in December 2023.
Julen Lopetegui
West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui
Tomas Soucek opened the scoring that night at roughly the same time as he did at St James’ Park last time out, and his performance could be crucial either way to West Ham’s fate, against an Arsenal midfield now bolstered by a fully-functioning Martin Odegaard.
The showdown in the middle of the park, which will also star Declan Rice to a middling-to-hostile reception, is likely to be what dictates the game – but not Lopetegui’s fate just yet.
In other West Ham news, an experienced senior player could depart in January following a recent development.
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