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2021/22 English Premier League
Matchday 35
West Ham United v Arsenal
London Stadium
London, England
Sunday, 1 May 2022
Kick-off is at 17h30 CAT
Arsenal will look to strengthen their grip on fourth spot in the
Premier League when they face West Ham in a local derby at the London Stadium on Sunday, May 1.
The Gunners capitalised on arch-rivals Tottenham dropping more points last weekend to move into the final Champions League place with five games remaining in the season.
Mikel Arteta's side went two points clear of Spurs in fourth position after beating Manchester United 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday to register back-to-back wins in the league.
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The race for the top four could come down to the north London derby and Arteta admits "small margins" may well decide the outcome of their battle.
"This changes so quickly, but my belief is that we're going to give it a real go," the Spaniard said. "We can win football matches, but the margins are very small and we have to be very aware of that.
"Winning and losing in this league and where we are today, is defined by the small margins, so everything has to be there to take the game where we want at the end of the 95 minutes."
The Hammers' top-four hopes were all but dashed following a 1-0 defeat to neighbours Chelsea on Sunday, which left them six points adrift of Arsenal, who have a game in hand on them.
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David Moyes' team have now lost three of their last five encounters, although they still have European nights to look forward to with Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-finals.
"We'll get ready for Thursday. It's a great night for the club and one we're all really looking forward to," Moyes said.
"The way things have gone, today was the first day in the season we've really changed the team around in a Premier League game to try and prepare players and allow time for them to be ready for a cup game.
"It's one of the biggest games in the club's history in a long, long time, so I want to give everybody the best chance to be as fit and as ready as we can be, which is difficult when you've got important Premier League games in the middle of it."
Head-to-Head (Last Five Premier League Meetings)
Matches - 5
West Ham - 0
Arsenal - 4
Draws - 1
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