West Ham all but ended Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes six weeks ago, but Mikel Arteta still believes they can catch Liverpool.
West Ham dealt what looked a fatal blow to Arsenal’s title challenge for the third season in a row back at the end of February.
That 1-0 Hammers win, courtesy of Jarrod Bowen’s diving header, was celebrated wildly in Liverpool.
It was the moment many feel the Premier League title was bound for Anfield.
But Mikel Arteta has continued to insist Arsenal are not out of it.
Arteta’s belief the Gunners can still catch Arne Slot’s Reds was made perfectly clear by the manager’s furious reaction to his side’s draw with Everton.
West Ham still have big part to play in Premier League title race
That stung even more when Liverpool were beaten by Fulham the very next day.
It is West Ham up next for Liverpool, who hold an 11-point lead over the Gunners with seven games to go.
One of those is against Arsenal, though.
So defeat to West Ham, who have been much better away from home than at the London Stadium under Graham Potter, could cut the gap to eight points and give Arteta’s side renewed belief of a miraculous late turnaround.
Stranger things have happened in football – just ask Newcastle and Man United fans.
Liverpool will be livid over Premier League decision for West Ham
Given what’s at stake, every detail of Liverpool’s matches is analysed with a fine-tooth comb.
All the usual conspiracy theories have abound about bias in officiating – something Arsenal supporters genuinely believe has hampered their challenge.
So Liverpool will be livid over a Premier League decision for the West Ham clash but Arsenal will love it.
West Ham have had a disastrous season. But beating Arsenal and damaging their title hopes at least gave the campaign some relevance.
The Hammers could reverse that with a highly unlikely win at Liverpool, though.
And West Ham may just fancy their chances that little bit more after a Premier League announcement.
The officials for the game at Anfield have been chosen.
Arsenal will love choice of officials for Reds vs Hammers
And both the referee and official who will be on VAR had shockers the last time they were involved in West Ham matches – in favour of the Hammers.
Andrew Madley has been selected as the referee for West Ham’s trip to Liverpool on Sunday.
The last time the 41-year-old took charge of a West Ham game was against Tottenham Hotspur in October.
West Ham lost that game 4-1 and Mohammed Kudus was infamously sent-off for complete head loss which left three Spurs players laid out on the floor.
Madley and Brooks had let West Ham off the hook
Madley only saw fit to issue a yellow card to Kudus over the incident.
But he was forced to overturn it by VAR after a lengthy pitchside check and upgraded to a red.
Madley’s initial error was quickly made to look even worse.
Because the the FA then handed Kudus – who has been linked with a move to both Liverpool and Arsenal – an extended five-game ban.
The FA even revealed one of their three-person panel wanted to hand the West Ham star a massive suspension to send a message.
If that’s not bad enough for Liverpool, there is further encouragement for the Hammers – and Arsenal – from the VAR announcement.
In many ways the official who is on VAR is even more important and influential than the man of the pitch.
John Brooks will handle the now all-important VAR duties.
And he refereed West Ham’s home game with Wolves in December 2024.
The Hammers managed to win that game 2-1 but only because Brooks dropped three clangers in the game which all benefited West Ham.
Wolves were denied a cast iron penalty after a blatant trip by Konstantinos Mavropanos.
To make matters worse, Mavropanos was then guilty of a foul on a Wolves player which resulted in West Ham’s winning goal.
West Ham will be hoping for more favourable decisions from Madley and Brooks at Liverpool.
At this stage of the season, with time writing out, so too will Arsenal – who are full of belief again following their sensational 3-0 win over Real Madrid.
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