William Saliba has admitted Arsenal took motivation from their previous defeats to West Ham United ahead of their 6-0 victory on Sunday.

LONDON, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team's fifth goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal FC at London Stadium on February 11, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Bukayo Saka of Arsenal celebrates scoring his team’s fifth goal during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Arsenal FC at London Stadium on February 11, 2024. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)

Going into Sunday’s match away to West Ham United at the London Stadium, Arsenal fans could have been forgiven for being a bit nervous.

On top of the fact that a number of players were ruled out late through injury, the supporters had already watched their team fail to deliver against the Hammers on two previous occasions in 2023/24.

First, there was the League Cup defeat, with Arsenal largely controlling the player but conceding an unfortunate own goal and two counter-attacks to somehow go 3-0 down. A late consolation from Martin Odegaard couldn’t change the final result.

LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 01: Martin Odegaard of Arsenal scores their sides first goal during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between West Ham United and Arsenal at London Stadium on November 01, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND: Martin Odegaard of Arsenal scores their sides first goal during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between West Ham United and Arsenal at London Stadium on November 01, 2023. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Even more frustrating was the Premier League defeat at the Emirates Stadium, where Arsenal dominated the 90 minutes but were extremely wasteful. West Ham were not.

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The Gunners ended up being lucky not to concede three again, with David Raya saving a 96th minute penalty to keep the score at 2-0.

Even so, it was embarrassing for the team, and William Saliba admits they used those results as motivation at the weekend.

“Yeah, that was a very good win today, because West Ham beat us twice this season, and we wanted to do well today,” Saliba said.

“Yeah (the previous defeats were a motivation), of course. When a team beats you, you want to beat them again. [West Ham] are the only team to beat us twice this season, and we had the chance to win today.

“We did it well, so it’s a good mentality from the team.”

Arsenal's Brazilian defender #06 Gabriel Magalhaes (C) celebrates after scoring their third goal during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium, in London on February 11, 2024. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhaes (C) celebrates after scoring their third goal during the English Premier League football match between West Ham United and Arsenal at the London Stadium, in London on February 11, 2024. (Photo by ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Arsenal more than made up for their previous defeats with a 6-0 thrashing at West Ham’s home ground.

But more importantly, the three points allowed the Gunners to stay in touch with Manchester City and Liverpool, with both title rivals winning as well.

There will be another chance for revenge later this month, as Arsenal take on Newcastle United. Before that, the Gunners have a game away to Burnley and their Champions League last-16 first leg against FC Porto to think about.

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