West Ham United midfielder Jack Wilshere is keen to prove a point to former club Arsenal when the Hammers make the trip to the Emirates Stadium this weekend. The England international made nearly 200 appearances during his decade-long stay in the Gunners’ first-team but he left them on a free transfer this summer after failing to receive assurances of regular gametime.

Since then, the 26-year-old has not witnessed the best of starts with the Hammers – who have succumbed to back-to-back losses but he is now keen to make an impact when facing Arsenal for the first time ever as an opposition player, he said: “First of all, I’ve got to concentrate on football and I quite fancy our chances. I obviously know them really well.

“They’ve got a new manager, but I know the players, so hopefully it’ll be a good time to play them. It’ll be a strange one for me as I was never able to go there and play when I went out on loan as you can play against your parent club, but it’s one I’m looking forward to. It’s down to me to prove a point to Arsenal that they were wrong to get rid of me.”

Manuel Pellegrini’s side were one of the big-spenders during the recent transfer window and they managed to pursue around eight players for a combined sum of around £100m. Despite this, the team have not managed to shine as a whole with the cohesion still lacking and they can expect another tough challenge against Arsenal despite the Gunners being on a poor run themselves.

Like West Ham, Arsenal have suffered successive defeats since the start of the league campaign but one could say that they have the home advantage to bank upon to pick up their first points of the season. Aside from Wilshere, Lucas Perez may also have something to prove against the north London giants after managing just two league starts during his time at the Emirates Stadium.