Arteta and Saka celeberate their milestones with a win

If there was a pool between Arsenal fans with a question: Did you believe that Mikel Arteta will survive 300 matches in charge on the Arsenal bench, there would be quite a few of those who would say ‘yes’. When the unexperienced Spaniard took over from Unai Emery in 2019, there were a lot of doubters and he was really in for a fight with an average team. Fast forward to 2025 and Arteta is as strong as ever on the Gunners bench and his players gave him a great present for his 300th game in the dugout – a comfortable 2-0 win over West Ham. To make things even better, his trusted player Bukayo Saka also celebrated his 200th Premier League game for Arsenal and even scored from a penalty.

For both men this milestone is nice, but they are more happy because of the victory which means they are continuing to chase Liverpool for the Premier League title. West Ham did manage a point last week against Everton after Nuno Espirito Santo came to replace Graham Potter as the boss, but the Portuguese born in Africa cannot change things so quick, especially on the of the two strongest teams in the league. Gunners never gave the Hammers a chance to do something and actually missed a lot of good opportunities to increase the final score. West Ham was ‘strangled’ early on and finished the match with only four overall shots, none of it on target.

Arteta decided to start with both Odegaard and Eze in midfield, but the latter missed a sitter from five meters in the 13th minute, while the captain injured his knee and had to come out after 29 minutes. Ten minutes later, it was 1-0. Decklan Rice again scored against his own club when a rebound in West Ham’s penalty area came to him. The Gunners had a super chance in injury time when Mavropanos cleared off the line after Calafiori's strike hit the foot of the post and rebounded off Areola's back.

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Everybody at the stadium just waited the second goal which would definitely ‘kill’ the game, but there wasn’t any. Gyokeres surprisingly misses a tap in in the 52nd minute but Diouf ‘helped’ Arsenal with a clumsy challenge on Timber in the 65th minute. The initial contact appeared to start outside the box, but no doubt carries on into the area and penalty was awarded. Saka took the ball and scored in his 200th appearance for his boyhood club and everything was over by then.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 7

Friday

Bournemouth - Fulham 3-1 (0-0)

/Semenyo 78, 90+6, Kluivert 84 - Sessegnon 70/

Saturday

Leeds - Tottenham 1-2 (1-1)

/Okafor 34 - Tel 23, Kudus 57

Arsenal - West Ham (1-0)

/Rice 38/

Manchester United - Sunderland (2-0)

/Mount 8, Sesko 31/

19.30: (3.00) Chelsea (3.80) Liverpool (2.35)

Sunday

16.00: (1.60) Aston Villa (3.90) Burnley (6.00)

16.00: (2.60) Everton (3.20) Crystal Palace (3.00)

16.00: (1.65) Newcastle (3.70) Nott.Forest (5.60)

16.00: (3.80) Wolverhampton (3.50) Brighton (2.00)

18.30: (4.85) Brentford (4.30) Man.City (1.65)

***odds are subject to change***