Arsenal need to use their "muscle memory" from their last trip to West Ham United to come away with a crucial three points from Saturday's Premier League affair, according to Gunners expert Charles Watts.
Mikel Arteta's men return to the site of their biggest-ever Premier League away win this weekend, memorably slaughtering David Moyes's Irons side 6-0 last season, and they come into the derby on the back of successive beatings of Nottingham Forest and Sporting Lisbon.
The Gunners find themselves 10 places and seven points better off than West Ham in the Premier League table, but Julen Lopetegui's side also enjoyed a successful away day last time out with a 2-0 success at Newcastle United in Monday's top-flight affair.
The all-capital clash comes one day before Liverpool and Manchester City's blockbuster showdown at Anfield, and speaking to Sports Mole, Watts stressed the importance of Arsenal coming away from the Irons' turf with all of the spoils before the Merseyside match takes centre stage.
"They've got good memories of last season," Watts said. "That was the start of the unbelievable run, really. They'd got a couple of wins before that and then they went to West Ham, battered them 6-0 and just skyrocketed off on an unbelievable run of form after that, scoring goals left, right and centre. So they have some nice muscle memory from the London Stadium, I would think.
"But it is crucial when you've got Liverpool and Man City 24 hours later - you've got to win. You absolutely have to win that game, put the pressure on them and you can sit back, put your feet up and see what happens at Anfield the following day. It's a huge game for Arsenal. They know they've got that pressure on them now, where they've just got very little room for error. You can't be slipping up and every away game is going to be tricky, but they've got to navigate it and get themselves three points.
"I thought West Ham was a great result against Newcastle, obviously, but Newcastle missed some big chances in that game and really should have punished West Ham. They didn't and in the end it looked like a fantastic away win. Well, it was a fantastic away win, a really difficult place to go for West Ham.
Arteta's Arsenal 'trust' analysed amid Gabriel injury concern
"So, you'd imagine that would give them a lift, but I think Arsenal would have seen enough from that game at St James' Park to think that they will be able to get some joy against this West Ham side. As long as they defend well, which we saw yesterday they did, then I would back them to go to West Ham and get the points."
The Gunners will definitely be missing Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu for the clash with West Ham, while Gabriel Magalhaes is a fresh concern after coming off with an unspecified injury in the 5-1 crushing of Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League.
Arteta was quintessentially tight-lipped when asked for an update on Gabriel in Friday's pre-game press conference, and while it is still unclear whether the Brazilian will be OK to play, Watts believes that the Arsenal boss is now showing some newfound faith in the fringe players in his squad.
"He'll be assessed at London Colney. Fingers crossed there's nothing too bad," Watts said of Gabriel. "You saw as soon as Gabriel came off and [Jakub] Kiwior came on, it was the one moment that [Viktor] Gyokeres has got any joy in the game was when he was able to hold off Kiwior and get shot away that [David] Raya tipped onto the post. You don't want anything to happen to that partnership. It's absolutely essential that they stay fit for Arsenal. It didn't look too bad, so fingers crossed.
Asked whether Arteta could make a few changes at the London Stadium, Watts replied: "He's rotated in the last two games, hasn't he? He made four changes [against Sporting]. Some of the big boys like [Thomas] Partey, [Kai] Havertz, [Declan] Rice, [Gabriel] Martinelli all came back in, having been left out against Nottingham Forest. Is this the start of Mikel really trusting his squad and using his squad, something we haven't seen too much of so far this season or last season? Potentially so.
"I don't think tiredness will come into it. They've got Man United on the following Wednesday, so a good gap between that game. I don't expect him to make too many changes. I think the team will be more similar to what it was [against Sporting] than what it was against Nottingham Forest. Maybe a couple, but I don't think it'll be wholesale changes. And it doesn't look like there's any major injury concerns aside from Gabriel."
Arteta reverted to what is perceived to be his strongest XI against Sporting after a couple of surprise calls in the 3-0 win over Nottingham Forest last weekend, namely the introductions of Jorginho and Gabriel Jesus into the first XI - the former impressed before being withdrawn for Thomas Partey at the break.
The Arsenal boss has often been criticised for his unwillingness to change tack with his team selection, but Watts has been a huge fan of the "really, really positive" rotation of late, saying: Ssome of those players who were given a chance against Forest, they made their mark. Even substitutes like [Raheem] Sterling came off the bench, got an assist.
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"And [against Sporting], the players who came back into the side, Martinelli, Havertz they all scored, then some more subs happened. Trossard came on, scored a goal, which would be really important for Trossard. Yes, it was a tap-in header, but it's his first goal in a while. And I thought there were positive signs from Trossard against Forest, and then he backed that up with a goal yesterday coming off the bench.
"It's just what you want if you're Mikel Arteta. Your subs coming on, making impacts, your squad all chipping in with valuable goals. So it's really, really positive on that front, I think, in terms of the squad rotation we've seen and the players stepping up and taking their opportunities."
Prior to the November international break, Arsenal had hit a plateau as they endured a miserable four-game winless sequence in the Premier League, but Arteta's men have cut resurrected figures in their two matches since the two-week hiatus.
A fortnight's intervention came at the perfect time for Arsenal, Watts believes, and he expressed his view that the Gunners' season has a "stable" feel to it for the first time in the campaign.
"It did [come at the perfect time], which you don't often say about international breaks, but it definitely did for Arsenal," Watts said. "They were on a poor run before that, it felt like they needed a bit of a reset, and it looks like it's happened. Just got to continue it now. I don't know if tough season's the right word, because they haven't exactly been awful, but it's just been a really frustrating stop-start season for Arsenal.
"It's just never felt like it's got going, really. It's just been one thing after another, suspension after the other, one injury after the other. This is the first time it just feels a bit stable, and you just want that to continue now. Just keep this availability going, keep these performances going, keep these results going, get to January and assess where you are at that point."
After Arsenal and West Ham conclude Saturday's Premier League action in the evening kickoff, Sunday's action is headlined by the mouthwatering clash between Liverpool and Man City, at least one of whom will drop points at Anfield on December 1.
Watts 'would not be upset' if Man City beat Liverpool
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Arsenal could have leapfrogged Man City in the table on the previous evening with at least a draw at the London Stadium, and Watts is of the view that a draw would be the best result for the Gunners, although he would not be losing sleep over a Citizens triumph.
"It's a really tough one," Watts said when asked who he wants to win out of Liverpool or City. "You look at the league table and you think, 'oh, you just want City to win that.' But then it's Manchester City, and I remember last season, the game at Anfield, and there was a lot of talk, what result do Arsenal want from this game?
"And it was probably a draw, both teams to drop points, but then there was always the argument there from some Arsenal fans saying, 'you know what, no,' even though Liverpool were clear at that moment, you want Liverpool to win that, because if you fancy any side to go on a real run, it's Manchester City.
"Ultimately, it was a draw, people looked at that, a good result at the time, and then City went on that remarkable run and pipped Arsenal to the post, and so you look back on it and think, 'it would have been handy if Liverpool had won that game.' But I think the table looks different this time, doesn't it? The gap is so big.
"City look in such a state, again, which we saw in the way they collapsed so remarkably against Feyenoord. It's tough to see City not continuing to drop points over the next month or so, until they get some players like Kovacic or Ruben Dias back. I still probably say a draw, but I don't know.I wouldn't be upset if Manchester City won this game. If you could close the gap to six points at the end of this weekend, then you'd probably feel pretty good about the position you're in, and especially with the form that you're beginning to show."
Following Saturday's trip to West Ham, Arsenal welcome Manchester United to the Emirates next Wednesday evening, before travelling to Fulham for another London derby on December 8.
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