Arsenal 3-1 West Ham United: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

#3 Marko Arnautovic extremely crucial to West Ham's success

The West Ham skipper scored the opening goal of the game

So far this season, West Ham have only managed to score two goals in over 270 minutes of Premier League action, both of them coming through their 2017-18 Player of the Year, Marko Arnautovic.

The Austrian has time and again proved why he is such an important player for West Ham, having signed for them last season. Today was no different either as he was a consistent thorn in the Arsenal defence, netting the Hammers' solitary goal from outside of the box with a fantastic finish.

14 – Only Mohamed Salah (22) has been directly involved in more Premier League goals in 2018 than Marko Arnautovic (8 goals, 6 assists). Threat. pic.twitter.com/HvAQlssoMh

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 25, 2018

Arnautovic is an able man on the ball, having the capabilities of starting an attack all on his own. He can carry the ball forward, pick out a pass, and even be the perfect target man for other players to mesh up with. West Ham created a lot of chances in both the halves of the game, but Arnautovic's presence in the heart of the attack was what made them potent.

The former Stoke City player had an early finish to the game as we went down and had to be subbed off. This, in some ways, killed West Ham's odds of coming back into the game. His replacement, Javier Hernandez, cut a frustrated figure in the final third of the pitch. Even Andriy Yarmolenko couldn't deliver.

The chances were still there, as Anderson and Antonio continued their exploits down the left flank. There was no one to poach on them though. After enduring three losses on the trot now, Manuel Pellegrini can only hope that there are no serious fitness concerns surrounding Marko Arnautovic following his early withdrawal on the night.