Declan Rice goal secures West Ham victory over defensively frail Arsenal

Re-live all the action as West Ham beat Arsenal in Saturday's early Premier League kick-off

West Ham v Arsenal Premier League match preview

West Ham United were deserved winners in their Premier League early kick-off against Arsenal, with Declan Rice scoring what proved to be the winning goal three minutes after the restart for the second half to secure victory and lift Manuel Pellegrini's side up to eighth in the table.

Arsenal were once again without Mesut Ozil, who Unai Emery left out due to "tactical reasons", but without the German midfielder they had not way of finding both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, who both started the match in attack.

Instead, it was West Ham who struck first with Rice's deftly-executed finish on the turn, and although Laurent Koscielny put the ball into the back of the net in the final minute of the match, the offside flag saved West Ham to guarantee them a valuable three points. Re-live the action below.

What time does it start?

West Ham vs Arsenal kicks off at 12:30pm (GMT).

Where can I watch it?

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports’ Premier League and Main Event channels from 11:30am. Sky Sports subscribers can also watch the game via the Sky Go app.

The match will also be available on Now TV by grabbing a day pass for just £7.99.

Highlights will be shown at 10:20pm on BBC One.

Player to watch…

Samir Nasri - The 31-year-old midfielder is set to make his first league start for West Ham against his former club after signing a six-month contract with the Hammers on New Year’s Day. The Frenchman, who completed an 18-month doping ban before signing, made his debut in Manuel Pellegrini’s side 2-0 win over Birmingham City in the FA Cup third-round and dictated play for large parts of the 58 minutes that he played.

Nasri is set to face his former club after starting in the FA Cup (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

Form guide…

West Ham: WLWLDW

Arsenal: LWDLWW

Odds…

West Ham to win: 5/2

Arsenal to win: Evens

Draw: 14/5

(Odds provided by 888 Sport)

Key Points

• West Ham 1-0 Arsenal
• Declan Rice scores three minutes after the start of the second half
• Arsenal just three points ahead of Manchester United
• West Ham up to eighth

[12 January 2019 11:41 · Michael Jones]

Hello, and welcome to our coverage to today's Premier League action, where we'll be bringing you all the team news, build up and match action from all seven of today's matches.

First up Arsenal travel to West Ham for the 12.30pm kick off, team news to follow... 

[12 January 2019 11:43 · Michael Jones]

Team news 

[12 January 2019 11:48 · Michael Jones]

Team news

Arsenal last played a Premier League match 11 days ago on January 1st. They name on unchanged team from that match which finished up as a 4-1 win over Fulham.

Mesut Ozil is still out due to injury and Aaron Ramsey, who is being courted by Juventus, is on the bench.

[12 January 2019 11:56 · Michael Jones]

Team news

West Ham meanwhile make three changes from their last Premier League game, a 2-2 draw with Brighton. 

Samir Nasri makes his first appearance for the Hammers and his return to the Premier League for the first time since August 2016, when he last played for Manchester City, against who? West Ham. 

Mark Noble comes back in to captain the team with Michail Antonio bolstering the mid-field. Pedro Obiang, Robert Snodgrass and Andy Carroll return to the bench. 

Marko Arnautovic starts despite West Ham receiving a £35m bid for him possibly moving to China.

[12 January 2019 12:13 · Michael Jones]

After West Ham vs Arsenal, we'll be bringing you all the goals from the 3pm games, here are the fixtures:

Brighton vs Liverpool

Burnley vs Fulham

Cardiff vs Huddersfield

Crystal Palace vs Watford

Leicester vs Southampton

Then at 5.30pm Chelsea take on Newcastle in a match up that has implications on both the top and bottom of the table.

[12 January 2019 12:17 · Michael Jones]

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery speaking before the game: "I think West Ham are improving and they also have good individual players with quality, like Anderson, like Arnautovic, who are very good players.

"Usually [Manuel Pellegrini has] very offensive teams. They usually play matches with a balance tactically but above all with technical, offensive players."

[12 January 2019 12:27 · Michael Jones]

How do we think the match will go?

Of the last 21 Premier League matches versus Arsenal, West Ham have only won one, with four draws and 16 losses.

Their win? A 2-0 victory at the Emirates in August 2015.

Kick off in just under 5 minutes...

[12 January 2019 12:31 · Michael Jones]

West Ham 0 - 0 Arsenal

West Ham start the game but they're pushed back to Fabianski before having to force the ball down the right and winning a throw in. 

[12 January 2019 12:34 · Michael Jones]

3 mins: West Ham 0 - 0 Arsenal

Arsenal put a bit of pressure on West Ham when they try to play the ball back around the defence. Aubameyang makes a foul and West Ham get a reprieve.

[12 January 2019 12:36 · Michael Jones]

6 mins: West Ham 0 - 0 Arsenal

Antonio shows his pace on the right wing, he bombs past Xhaka, keeps the ball in play and gives it to Noble. Noble plays a one-two with Nasri, who is in the box, before getting a shot away. There's no real power on the shot and Leno makes an easy save.