West Ham defender Konstantinos Mavropanos says the Hammers are just as “hungry” as Arsenal for the win on Sunday evening.

The Gunners know three points will go some way to clinching the Premier League title, but Nuno Espirito Santo’s side also desperately need a victory to get themselves out of the bottom three.

Following the 3-0 defeat to Brentford last week, West Ham are one point adrift of safety, and asked how his team will react to the setback, Mavropanos said:

“We’ve always been able to react; this is what we expect on Sunday. It’s a big game, but I think we are as hungry as they are, obviously for different things, but it’s a game that we have to go for it.”

Mavropanos will be a key figure for the Hammers

The Greek international is actually a former Arsenal player, having left the Gunners for Stuttgart on a permanent basis in the summer of 2022 before returning to London a year later.

Mavropanos has helped West Ham beat Arsenal twice in his six derbies for the club. He famously scored at the Emirates in 2023 to clinch a 2-0 win, which damaged their rival’s title prospects.

However, the centre-back has never secured a home league victory in this fixture, and he will be hoping that changes this weekend.

West Ham have to approach the game carefully

As Mavropanos points out, it’s a match where the Irons “have to go” for all three points as they need to apply maximum pressure on Tottenham, who play a day later against Leeds.

However, if they are too open, it could play into Arsenal’s hands. Nuno and assistant Paco Jemez need to put a smart game plan in place to ensure they come away with a victory.

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