Morning all! Matchday 13's Saturday lunchtime game in the Premier League sees West Brom take on
Arsenal at The Hawthorns. Plenty to talk about between now and kickoff in an hour, so let's get started with the team news...
WEST BROM XI: Foster; Wisdom, Lescott, Dawson, Pocognoli; Gardner, Mulumbu, Brunt, Dorrans; Sessegnon, Berahino
Subs: Myhill, McAuley, Gamboa, Baird, Anichebe, Ideye, Samaras
ARSENAL XI: Martinez; Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Flamini, Ramsey; Welbeck, Alexis, Cazorla; Giroud
Subs: Macey, Gibbs, Bellerin, Rosicky, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Campbell, Podolski
Starting with West Brom, that's two changes for the Baggies from last week's 2-0 defeat at Chelsea. Claudio Yacob was sent off so is suspended and replaced by Youssouf Mulumbu, while Sebastien Pocognoli gets the nod ahead of Chris Baird at left-back.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have five changes in their starting lineup from their last Premier League match. Damian Martinez, Laurent Koscielny, Mathieu Flamini,
Santi Cazorla and
Olivier Giroud replace Wojciech Szczesny, Kieran Gibbs, Mikel Arteta, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jack Wilshere.
Szczesny and Wilshere were both injured against Manchester United a week ago, while Arteta has also been ruled out with a calf injury. Gibbs and Oxlade-Chamberlain drop to the bench.
REFEREE WATCH! The man with the whistle at The Hawthorns is
Chris Foy.
© Getty Images
Giroud made his return from a broken leg a month early last week against United and rocketed home the late consolation goal. He missed Wednesday's Champions League tie against Borussia Dortmund, but is fit to start today.
Despite Giroud's inclusion,
Arsene Wenger keeps
Danny Welbeck and
Alexis Sanchez in the team so it's an awfully attacking lineup from the visitors today. Mathieu Flamini is the only real defensively-minded midfielder and West Brom might look to exploit that. Welbeck is moved out wide to the right for the first time in an Arsenal shirt.
It will be interesting to see how Sanchez plays with a target-man in Giroud. The Chilean has been so key this season.
Moving onto the West Brom side, their key player is certainly
Saido Berahino. He recently earned his first England call-up and was unlucky not to see any game time under Roy Hodgson earlier this month. He has seven Premier League goals this term but is in a bit of a slump without a goal in four Baggies games.
As well as being in a bit of a rut in front of goal, Berahino has also been reportedly arrested for drink-driving thisweek. Read more about that
here.
West Brom sub Cristian Gamboa catches up with Costa Rica teammate Joel Campbell ahead of today's match:
West Brom's recent record against Arsenal in the league isn't great - they've failed to win in seven and lost five of those games. One of the draws was here at The Hawthorns last season, though, when it finished 1-1.
Baggies boss
Alan Irvine knows what is key for his side today, he tells
BT Sport: "You know what a good attacking force Arsenal are. There is no doubt. They pass it extremely well, their movement is terrific and they have individuals who can open you up with a dribble. If you give it back to them cheaply they can hurt you all afternoon so our usage of the ball will be key."
Wenger has also been speaking to
BT Sport and is confident that his attacking lineup can work well together: "I think it can work, with Danny Welbeck on the flank and
Olivier Giroud more in the middle. Alexis Sanchez is playing as well so let's see if we can find the balance between attacking well and defending today."
As well as Giroud being back, Arsenal fans will be delighted to see Laurent Koscielny back in the side. Only Man Utd's Phil Jones (5) has made more Premier League interceptions per league game than the Frenchman (4.17).
PREDICTION: Ten to go at The Hawthorns so it's time for my pre-game prediction. I fancy Arsenal to win it 2-0. Why not watch our
Sports Mole Sofa discussion below as well.
The two teams are now in the tunnel. Can Arsenal go into the top four, or will West Brom move to within a point of the Gunners?
KICKOFF! Off we go in the West Midlands in the first of 30 Premier League matches over the next week or so. Bring it on!
First shot of the game comes from the boot of Cazorla and it's a sweet hit by the little Spaniard after being teed up by Welbeck. He's so good off both feet and this time uses his left but can only nail it down the throat of Foster.
Better from West Brom as they enjoy a little more possession. Arsenal are sitting fairly deep when they don't have the ball, but West Brom will need to be careful of their ability to counter-attack.
SHOT! Alexis drives forward from the middle before taking a shot at goal, but like Cazorla can only hit it at Foster, who makes a comfortable save.
Great defending by Koscielny as he hacks clear in the area after Lescott got up well at the back post to nod a corner back across goal. West Brom will certainly want to be dangerous from set pieces today.
Dawson, who is the only West Brom player to have played every minute in the league this season, makes a key block to deny Cazorla.
Gibbs is sent out to warm up on the touchline as it's looks like Monreal is struggling with an injury. Bad news for the Gunners as they've only just got Koscielny back from injury.
Welbeck, by the way, has started out wide on the left so that Sanchez can play on the right. The former has played there plenty of times in the past for Man Utd and England, but he's looked most at home through the middle. With Giroud now fit again, is Welbeck's time as the main striker over for the time being?
Alexis tries to find the surging Chambers on the overlap but underhits his pass to the Englishman, allowing Pocognoli to intercept.
Welbeck looks up to Foy pleading for a penalty after a challenge from Wisdom, but the referee is having none of it. The Arsenal man tried to get his body across Wisdom and either get off a shot or win a spot kick, but it was great defending by the Liverpool loanee.
ARSENAL SUB: Monreal tried to continue, but he's unable to as Gibbs replaces him in a like-for-like swap at left-back.
Giroud goes over very dramatically when trying to win a penalty, but it was a fair challenge by Mulumbu. Moments later Cazorla wins a free kick in a great central position about 25 yards out...
CHANCE! Sanchez hits the wall with his free kick, but Arsenal go close moments later as Welbeck is slid in down the inside-right channel and hits it first-time. Foster is off his line quickly and makes a smart save.
From great to garbage in a matter of moments for Foster as he hesitates when trying to clear with his weaker right foot and has the ball nicked by Giroud. The Frenchman is out wide on the right and doesn't really have a sight of goal so just fires it across the six-yard box, where there's no Arsenal player to tap it in. West Brom survive.
Although West Brom are yet to have a shot at goal, they have had just slightly more possession with 51% of the ball.
CHANCE! Wonderful passing from the visitors as Giroud, Ramsey and Sanchez all link up before Welbeck backheels it into the path of Cazorla. There's no-one near him and he has a clear shot at goal from the edge of the area but can only weakly sidefoot it and it's an easy save for Foster.
Foster does well to claim a couple of Arsenal crosses as the Gunners continue to press for the opener.
CLOSE! Stupid play from Mulumbu as he dilly-dallies on the edge of his own box before giving it away. Cazorla picks up the loose ball and prods it into the path of Ramsey, whose right-foot shot towards the near post just flies wide.
Here's a snap from
Getty Images of Welbeck and Wisdom battling for possession.
© Getty Images
Shots: West Brom 0-8 Arsenal. Score: West Brom 0-0 Arsenal.
West Brom have looked a little better in the last five minutes or so. If they scored now and stole a half-time lead it would be so undeserved, but absolutely perfect going into the break. Either way, the game needs a goal.
Just the one minute of time added on at the end of the first half. Both managers will have stern words for their sides after a fairly lacklustre 45 minutes.
West Brom end the half on top as Sessegnon beats his man to the left byline but can't find a navy and white shirt with his cutback. That'll be that.
HALF-TIME: WEST BROM 0-0 ARSENAL
No goals at the break then after a bit of a nothing half. Arsenal, unsurprisingly, have looked the more threatening, but their finishing has been below-par.
Our instant half-time report is already live on site and you can recap the opening 45 minutes
right here.
As things stand in the Premier League, Arsenal will be climbing a couple of places up to sixth. West Brom will stay 13th with a point, but that could of course all change after the rest of the weekend's games.
We'll be covering every 3pm kickoff in the top flight individually, with live commentary starting an hour before kickoff. Pick your favourite game, or follow all of them!
I said before the game that Wenger had basically gone with one of the most attacking lineups possible. It's resulted in eight shots for the visitors, four of which have been on target. West Brom need to sort themselves out going forward - they haven't had a single attempt on goal.
Who can make an impact off the bench for the Baggies? Giorgos Samaras and Victor Anichebe are the two most forward-thinking players on the bench and I reckon the latter would do best here. His physicality could certainly rough Arsenal up a bit.
KICKOFF! We're back underway at The Hawthorns. No half-time changes from either manager.
Oooh, Arsenal can count themselves very lucky there. Berahino is clean through on goal but the flag goes up. Replays show that Koscielny was probably just playing him on. Very close, but the benefit of the doubt should have gone to the attacker there.
Remember, Arsenal were forced into a change in the first half when Monreal went off injured, with Gibbs coming on. Wenger only has two changes at his disposal.
"HANDBALL!" bellow the Arsenal fans after Ramsey's shot strikes Dawson in the box. That was never going to be given because of the close proximity between the two players.
BOOKING! First yellow card of the game is shown to Dorrans after he brought down Ramsey.
Dodgy goalkeeping again from Foster as he fumbles a looping cross. The ball bobbles around in the area before Mertesacker takes a swipe at it and drags it wide.
SIDE-NETTING! Berahino goes close with West Brom's first shot at goal from a narrow angle on the left. He tried to fox Martinez with a near-post shot and it might have gone in had it been the other side of the post as Martinez had been wrongfooted.
Gibbs gets to the byline and dinks in a cross that's begging to be headed home. There's an Arsenal player arriving as well, but unfortunately for the Gunners it's the miniature Cazorla who leaps but just gets under it.
We're almost at the hour mark.
GOAL! WEST BROM 0-1 ARSENAL (WELBECK)
Moments after seeing the below stat, Arsenal score just before the 60th minute! It's a well-worked goal as Cazorla beats Wisdom down the left before clipping a cross into the middle where Welbeck powerfully heads it at goal. Foster gets a strong hand to it, but he can't keep it out.
WEST BROM SUB: It doesn't take Irvine long to make a change as defensive-midfielder Mulumbu comes off for big striker Anichebe.
Here's a great photo of Welbeck heading home the opener:
© Getty Images
Can West Brom get themselves back into the game now? As things stand they're going to lose their third home game of the season. They've only won once at The Hawthorns in 2014-15.
Worrying signs for West Brom as Pocognoli stays down with an injury. He gets a bit of treatment by the physios and appears well enough to continue.
WEST BROM SUB: Ignore me, Pocognoli has to come off and is replaced by Gamboa. The latter will probably go to his preferred right-back slot, with Wisdom coming over to the left.
WEST BROM SUB: Another change and West Brom's last one as Samaras comes on for Sessegnon. It sounds like the West Brom fans have booed that change, they're not happy!
Gardner is always a threat from distance and his left-foot shot takes a deflection which means it's an easy save for Martinez. West Brom seeing more of the ball in the Arsenal half.
ARSENAL SUB: The Gunners' second change sees Oxlade-Chamberlain replace Giroud. Welbeck will go up front.
OFF THE BAR! So close to a Baggies equaliser as Berahino gets up well to meet Dorrans's cross and hits the bar with his header.
BOOKING! Second booking of the game for West Brom sub Gamboa after he tugged at Welbeck's shorts and halted his run.
Less than five minutes of normal time remaining then and Arsenal don't look too comfortable. They've thrown away so many leads lately and their fans won't be feeling too confident at the moment.
CLOSE! I mentioned earlier how Gardner can be a threat from distance and he's almost fired West Brom level with a swerving shot that took a slight nick off Ramsey and flew wide of the post. Four minutes added on.
Samaras does really well to dig out a cross just before the ball was about to go out of play down the left. Martinez does well to claim the ball and keep hold of it under pressure.
BOOKING! Clear yellow card there as Oxlade-Chamberlain hacks down Gamboa when trying to win the ball deep in the West Brom half.
West Brom are pushing, but they might just run out of time.
FULL-TIME: WEST BROM 0-1 ARSENAL
Foster went forward from goal late on, but couldn't have an effect as West Brom fall to defeat at home to Arsenal. It wasn't the best game and it was won by Welbeck's powerful 60th-minute header.
It was a great header by the Englishman after Cazorla got the better of Wisdom down the left and dinked in an inviting cross.
© Getty Images
That takes Arsenal
up to fourth in the table, but they might not be there after the weekend's other fixtures. West Brom stay 13th but are in danger of being caught by those below in what is a very tight bottom half of the table.
Time for us to say goodbye here, but why not now
click here to go to our live scores hub and pick a commentary or two from there? Analysis and player ratings from The Hawthorns will be live on site in the next hour. Enjoy!