Paul Merson is predicting a 3-1 win for Arsenal over West Ham on Wednesday, despite noting the Hammers’ unpredictability in the last month.

Merson gave his prediction for the match to Sky Sports, and said he backs Arsenal to come out on top due to their fantastic head-to-head record in this fixture. “I still think Arsenal will win this, because Arsenal do have joy at West Ham,” he said.

As Merson points out, West Ham went from losing 4-0 to Everton, to pushing league leaders Manchester City to the wire and then beating Chelsea 1-0 – all in the space of ten days. That’s quite the turnaround.

Arsenal’s opponents still sit in the relegation zone going into Wednesday’s match, but they’ll be feeling confident that they’re going in the right direction now, at least.

However, Arsenal have battered West Ham on the last two occasions, winning 5-1 at the London Stadium and 3-0 at the Emirates. If Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil play like they did during the last visit to the Hammers, the Gunners shouldn’t have any problems.

One big question is who starts up front for Arsenal. In that 5-1 victory, the team benefited from smooth counter-attacking play, which would suggest that Alexandre Lacazette should get the nod.

But Olivier Giroud has been knocking on the door for a while, scoring after coming off the bench recently against Southampton, so he stands a chance of a first league start of the season.

Either way, the Gunners really need the three points to keep the pressure on the top-four.