BASEMENT BATTLE

IF Arsenal suffer defeat today, they will have lost their opening three league games in a season for the first time since 1954-55 and for only the fifth time ever (after 1895-96, 1921-22, and 1923-24). West Ham have lost their first two games of the league season. Defeat today would mean they have lost their opening three for the third time this decade (also 2010-11 and 2017-18) after doing so just five times between 1920 and 2010.