A week after beating Hull City in their own backyard, Arsenal will be looking to pick up their sixth straight win in all competitions when they host local rivals West Ham United at the Emirates on Saturday evening.

The Gunners were made to work hard for their victory on Humberside last Saturday, with Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner netting an injury time winner.

Russian playmaker Andrei Arshavin gave Arsenal the lead in the 14th minute at the KC Stadium after being set up by Bendtner. It was Arsenal’s 100th goal of the 2009-10 season, but Hull were back on level terms when referee Andre Marriner gave the Tigers a penalty for Campbell’s foul on Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. Jimmy Bullard sent Almunia the wrong way to equalise for Hull.

Arsenal have made it a habit of sorts to score injury time winners in recent times and last week was no different. Denilson’s long range effort was parried away by Hull keeper Boaz Myhill, but unfortunately for Hull, Bendtner was first to the ball and he converted from close range.

Bendtner is definitely worth placing a few quid on this weekend if you are planning to do some football betting. His finishing can be patchy at times, but the tall Dane is in decent nick at this moment. The statistics below from Arsenal’s last five games will tell you the story.

Bendtner has scored six times in Arsenal's last five games

Hull 1-2 Arsenal ( Arshavin, Bendtner)
Arsenal 5-0 FC Porto ( Bendtner*3, Nasri, Eboue)
Arsenal 3-1 Burnley ( Fabregas, Walcott, Arshavin)
Stoke 1-3 Arsenal ( Bendtner,Fabregas,Vermaelen)
Arsenal 2-0 Sunderland ( Bendtner, Fabregas)

Team news :- Aaron Ramsey, Johan Djorou, Robin Van Persie and William Gallas are definitely injured.

Skipper Cesc Fabregas could be back after missing the Hull game due to injury.

Alex Song is available after serving a one match ban.

West Ham have lost their last three games in the league, but one needs to remember that two of those games were against Chelsea and Manchester United, and that both games were away from home. The Hammers are just three points above the relegation zone at this moment.

West Ham statistics- last five games-

Chelsea 4-1 West Ham ( Scott Parker)
West Ham United 1-2 Bolton ( Alessandro Diamanti)
Man United 3-0 West Ham United
West Ham 3-0 Hull ( Valon Behrami, Carlton Cole, Julien Faubert)
West Ham 2-0 Birmingham ( Alessandro Diamanti, Carlton Cole)

Arsenal met the Hammers two months ago in the FA Cup, and needed late goals from Ramsey and Eduardo to beat the Hammers. The last meeting in the Premier League between the two sides ended in a 2-2 draw.

Verdict:- Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

James McCarthy’s comical own goal gave Villa the lead at the DW Stadium, but the Irish international atoned for his mistake when he earnt the free kick that allowed the Latics to equalise. N’Zogbia sent in the free kick and former Celtic defender Gary Caldwell took advantage of some poor marking from Villa to nod home.

Video of McCarthy’s own goal against Aston Villa

Video of James Milner’s winner for Aston Villa

Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool ( Anelka 60′, Malouda 90+1′)

Chelsea 1-0 Liverpool ( Nicolas Anelka 60′ goal)

Javier Mascherano gets caught in possession, and Didier Drogba crosses for Anelka to poke home from close range.

Chelsea 2-0 Liverpool ( Florent Malouda 90+1′)

Drogba again turns provider. He shows power and skill to get away from Jamie Carragher, and crosses for Malouda to prod home at the near post.

Welsh international Ricketts started in 27 of Hull’s Premier League games last season. Knight was a less regular starter for Villa, as he had competition in the now retired Martin Laursen, Carlos Cuellar and Curtis Davies.

Both the defenders have put pen to paper three year deals at the Reebok.

Liverpool centre back Daniel Agger has admitted that he has “no idea” whether the club want him to sign a new deal. The Danish defender’s contract expires next summer but the club are yet to tie him down to a long term deal.

Agger has attracted attention from both AC Milan and Real Madrid, but manager Rafa Benitez insists that he has a long term future at Anfield. Agger moved to Liverpool in January 2006 on a four and a half year contract from Brondby for £5.8m. Benitez has also hit out at his bosses for their failure to give Agger a new contract.

Agger has also had limited starts at Anfield since the arrival of Slovakian centre half Martin Skrtel. Benitez has four central defenders to choose from- Agger, Jamie Carragher, Sami Hyypia and Skrtel. Injuries have not helped Agger’s cause either. The Dane also reportedly wants a higher salary than what the Reds are prepared to offer him.

This is what Agger had to say.

“The ball is in Liverpool’s court. I’ve not heard from them about this since the beginning of November. There is no reason to have high expectations and to be honest, I have no idea if they want to sign a new deal.”

Will we see Daniel Agger in a Liverpool FC Kit in the future? Keep watching this space to find out.

Elano started against PSG, but lasted only forty nine minutes before limping off and being replaced by Zimbabwean Benjani Mwaruwari. He had a forgettable night, with his passes unable to find their intended recipients.

City play Fulham in the Premiership on Saturday.

Here are some players who would have taken you to the top of the table last week, if you had chosen them in your squads.

Robin Van Persie- The Arsenal forward struck twice in three minutes against Chelsea to allow the Gunners to come out of Stamford Bridge with a victory. The fact that the first goal was clearly offside is irrelevant in fantasy football :p

Johan Elmander- The former Toulouse hitman delivered as Bolton stunned Sunderland 4-1 at the Stadum of Light.

Henri Camara- The Senegal forward played a big role in Wigan’s 2-1 win with West Bromwich Albion

Ricardo Fuller- Fuller scored from the spot for Stoke against Hull.

Forwards tend to get you more points ( The four players above are all strikers), but they also eat up a fair bit of your budget. An example of a non forward who did well this week was Middlesbrough’s David Wheater.

If you haven’t tried your hand at fantasy football yet, try this one.

Metro Fantasy Football- Has over £40,000 in prizes.

Chelsea slipped up at home against Arsenal on Sunday, losing 1-2 as Robin Van Persie struck twice in the space of three second half minutes. Van Persie’s first goal was clearly offside, but Dean allowed it to stay, and the decision ended up rattling Chelsea, who conceded another a few minutes later and ended up losing the game.

I want an apology- Luiz Felipe Scolari

Scolari also demanded that Dean apologise for making a mistake. Had Chelsea won, it would have effectively ended any chances that the Gunners had of winning the Premiership.

The loss however takes the Gunners into fourth, and Liverpool can overtake Chelsea should they beat West Ham at home tonight.

An FA spokesman said

We are aware of the comments and will be looking at them in due course

In other Chelsea news, chairman Peter Kenyon has stated that Didier Drogba will not be leaving Stamford Bridge for the San Siro in January 2009.

Photo of Scolari originally taken here.