"Nothing less than a win will do for them" - Chris Sutton makes prediction for West Ham vs Arsenal

Former Chelsea forward Chris Sutton has predicted a 2-0 win for Arsenal as they take on West Ham United in a Premier League clash at the London Stadium on April 16.

The Gunners will enter the contest on the back of a 2-2 draw against Liverpool at Anfield. They dropped two crucial points in the title race despite having led 2-0 in the first half against the Reds.

West Ham's last game was a 1-1 draw against Gent in the Europa Conference League quarterfinals first-leg on Thursday, April 13. Danny Ings opened the scoring for the Hammers before Hugo Cuypers equalized for the Belgian side.

In his prediction for BBC, Sutton wrote:

"Arsenal need to bounce back here after what happened to them at Anfield. I can see why their draw against Liverpool is viewed by some as being a good point gained, especially because of Aaron's Ramsdale brilliant save to deny the Reds at the end - it could have been worse for Mikel Arteta's side. But I know how I felt as a player when we led 2-0 in games and let it slip, and it will have felt like a defeat for the Gunners."

The 50-year-old added:

"That Granit Xhaka moment, where he clashed with Trent Alexander-Arnold at the end of the first half and got the Anfield crowd going, turned out to be costly. I do feel for Xhaka a bit but, at the end of the season, when people look back at the pivotal moments in the title race, that could well be one of them. So, the way the leaders react is going to be fascinating. The wheels could have come off when they lost to Manchester City in February but they responded with seven successive wins."

Sutton concluded:

"Nothing less than a win will do for them here either, and I think they will get it. West Ham got a really vital victory over Fulham last week and they are still desperate for points so they will give everything here - but Arsenal should be too good for them."

Arsenal are at the top of the Premier League table with 73 points from 30 matches - six points clear of Manchester City. West Ham, on the other hand, are involved in a relegation scrap and have 30 points from 29 matches.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta provided an update on William Saliba's injury

French centre-back William Saliba has been out of action since suffering an injury during Arsenal's UEFA Europa League Round of 16 second-leg clash against Sporting CP at the Emirates.

Mikel Arteta provided an update on the Frenchman's injury as he told the media ahead of the clash against West Ham (via the Gunners' website):

"He’s not far from starting to do that. Obviously we need to be cautious because of the injury, but he’s evolving well."

Saliba has helped the Gunners keep 13 clean sheets across competitions in 32 matches this term.