Arsenal given fresh Premier League title boost as impressive West Ham record spells trouble for Man City

History suggests that West Ham United could present a difficult obstacle for Manchester City in their quest to topple Arsenal in the Premier League title race.

A potentially-pivotal weekend of Premier League football for teams at both ends of the table awaits, with the relegation-threatened Hammers playing host to Pep Guardiola’s side at the London Stadium on Saturday.

Man City currently sit second in the Premier League table and seven points behind leaders Arsenal, who have played a game more and will take on Everton at the Emirates Stadium a few hours before the Citizens lock horns with the Hammers.

Guardiola will be seeking a response from his players after City suffered a disappointing 3-0 first-leg defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.

The Citizens had previously dropped precious Premier League points in a 2-2 draw with Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium, allowing Arsenal to cement their status as favourites to win the title for the first time in over two decades.

As for West Ham, they are in high spirits after beating Brentford on penalties in the FA Cup fifth round last weekend, while Nuno Espirito Santo’s men have enjoyed a resurgent run of form in the Premier League, losing just one of their last five games (W2 D2) to boost their survival hopes.

West Ham vs. Man City: Hammers have history with punishing title contenders

Man City will back themselves to halt West Ham’s momentum and claim a positive result on Saturday, as they are unbeaten in their last 20 Premier League meetings with the Hammers (W17 D3) and have never lost at the London Stadium in the top flight in nine attempts (W7 D2).

However, the Citizens should be concerned by West Ham’s impressive record against Premier League title contenders at this stage of the season – something that Mikel Arteta's Arsenal should also take note of.

There have been 12 games in Premier League history where West Ham have picked up points against title-chasing teams between February and May, winning four and drawing eight.

In 1994-95, West Ham frustrated Alex Ferguson's Manchester United with a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford on the final day of the season, a result that helped Blackburn Rovers secure their maiden Premier League title.

The following campaign, Harry Redknapp’s Hammers beat Newcastle United 2-0 on home soil in February, triggering a run of just two wins in eight league games for the Magpies as they slipped to second place and finished four points behind champions Man United.

Over the last decade, the Hammers have established themselves as persistent party-poopers for title-chasing teams, notably collecting five points across games against Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and eventual champions Leicester City in 2015-16.

The Gunners (3-3 draw) and Spurs (1-0 loss) both slipped up against West Ham in March and went on to finish second and third respectively, while Leicester also dropped points in a 2-2 draw with the Hammers before stunning the football world by lifting their first ever PL title.

The 2022-23 season also saw Arsenal stumble at a crucial period in April, letting a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 with a Declan Rice-inspired West Ham outfit. Arteta’s men then failed to win four of their final seven games and finished five points behind champions Man City.

In the following year, Liverpool fell out of the title race in Jurgen Klopp’s final season at the club, with their trophy hopes all but ended in April by West Ham when they pegged back the Merseysiders in an entertaining 2-2 draw at the London Stadium.

West Ham will fancy their chances of upsetting the apple cart once again when they face Man City this weekend, but Nuno is aware of the challenge that Guardiola’s side can pose.

Nuno heaps praise on Guardiola, Man City before PL clash

“I always believe that Man City is one of the best teams, has as an enormous amount of solutions and talented players and has a fantastic manager,” Nuno said at his pre-match press conference.

“What I see is a tough opponent, a very tough opponent for anyone. They have a lot of options and always many talented players that can play in several positions.

“And they have an identity of the way they play football so that any player that eventually you put inside immediately clicks and gets inside of the identity of the team. They have so many options, so many talented players.”

“[I put our recent results down to] the hard work of the players,” Nuno added. "I think we improve our game. Like I said, the aspects that we mentioned before – the unity, the team spirit – it's there and its basic that it continues.

“Some luck always helps, and realising that it's going to be needed.”

Guardiola: “If we drop points it will be over”

Meanwhile, Guardiola has urged his Man City side to not take West Ham lightly and believes the Premier League title race will be "over" if they drop points on Saturday.

"Now it's West Ham. The Premier League is the most difficult title,” Guardiola told reporters. “We're still there, knowing that if we drop points it will be over.

"I've always said when we arrive in the last 10 games [with every team playing] for something - for relegation, for Europa League, for Conference League, for Champions League, to be champions. It's normal, every game. Now there are no second chances."

Man City have already beaten West Ham in the Premier League this season, with two goals from Erling Haaland and a strike from Tijjani Reijnders securing a 3-0 victory at the Etihad in December.