Despite evidence to the contrary being plentiful, not everyone is predicting an avalanche of Arsenal goals tomorrow at London Stadium as West Ham prepare for the battle for their Premiership lives.
Maximilian Kilman and Dinos Mavropanos conceded ‘just’ twice at the Emirates as Arsenal won 2-0 back in October and former West Ham defender Matt Upton believes the arrival of Disasi has made the Hammers more resilient and now a tough nut to crack -especially for The Gooners’ record signing Victor Gyokeres.
Disasi and Mavropanos tipped to ‘enjoy’ playing against Arsenal!
As reported in The Athletic, Upson reckons the Chelsea loanee’s calmness under pressure has rubbed off on his defensive partner:
“Disasi has been a calming influence for Mavropanos,” former West Ham and England centre-back turned pundit Matt Upson tells The Athletic. “You could watch a game and not notice him that much, but that’s a good thing, because he does not crave the limelight. That’s helped Mavropanos, because he was often chaotic in his thought process. Now he’s been paired with Disasi, he’s found another level of calm.
West Ham’s new defensive partnership is now cool under fire and will be a tough nut to crack- according to Matt Upson
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The biggest compliment I can give Disasi and Mavropanos is that I don’t see Gyokeres having much joy against them (tomorrow). With his style of play, they’ll enjoy playing against him. Gyokeres was very good against Atletico Madrid (in their Champions League semi-final’s second leg in midweek), but this will be a tougher match-up physically for him.”
I’m not sure that ‘enjoy’ is the right word: For all the Hammers pairing’s solidity they will have more than just Gyokeres to cope with tomorrow. But here’s hoping.