Arsenal player ratings vs West Ham: Raya and Trossard stand out

David Raya and Leandro Trossard were Arsenal’s best performers in a 1-0 win over West Ham that was far less comfortable than the scoreline suggests. Ben White went off in the 28th minute with a knee injury, Martin Ødegaard set up the 83rd-minute winner, and a late VAR review added one more twist before the points were secured.

How the reshuffle unsettled Arsenal

Arsenal started well, but the game became an arm-wrestle once White had to leave the pitch. Mikel Arteta’s side had lined up in a 4-2-3-1, while West Ham used a 3-4-2-1, and the move to cover White’s injury made the right side look less settled.

The experiment most likely to draw scrutiny was Declan Rice at right-back. It was a makeshift answer rather than a clean solution, and the ratings reflect that Arsenal needed more recovery work than they would have wanted. [William Saliba] was credited with three tackles, but the pressure on David Raya still grew as the match wore on.

Raya’s 7.2 looks respectable, but the real value was in the moment that mattered. He made three saves and then produced a crucial stop late on when Fernandes was clean through. That is the kind of intervention that keeps a tight game alive, and it was enough to put him among the key figures even before the final whistle.

Why Trossard earned the top rating

Leandro Trossard was Arsenal’s top-rated player at 7.9, which fits the basics of the match. He scored the only goal in the 83rd minute after Ødegaard’s assist, and he was the attacker most consistently threatening West Ham’s block throughout the game.

The numbers back that up. Trossard had two shots on target, finished with one goal, and did the one thing Arsenal needed when the match looked headed for another awkward evening. Matt Verri said it was “far from comfortable for the Gunners”, and that feels accurate enough, but the final action belonged to Trossard and Ødegaard.

There is a fair argument that the early sequence around Trossard was messy and described differently by different outlets. The only detail that matters in the verified event feed is the finish itself, and that was enough to decide the match.

The late VAR call only sharpened the margin. Callum Wilson’s goal was disallowed in the 90th minute plus five after a foul decision on Raya, which is why Arsenal walked away with the clean sheet and the win rather than a nervy draw. Arsenal now remain top with 76 points, five ahead of Manchester City on 74, so the title race still runs through them. If they keep winning, this sort of performance, uneven as it was, will be enough.