Mavropanos sends Arsenal warning

Mavropanos sends Arsenal warning

The defender has already had a say in Arsenal’s title race after helping West Ham take points off Manchester City.

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

Konstantinos Mavropanos has told Arsenal that West Ham will “go for it” on Sunday, with the former Gunners defender insisting his side must use the London Stadium crowd as they fight to stay in the Premier League.

Arsenal head to east London knowing a win would leave them just two games away from becoming champions for the first time in 22 years. West Ham are in a very different fight, but Mavropanos believes that only adds to the edge of a fixture in which both sides need the points for very different reasons.

The 28-year-old has already had an indirect influence on Arsenal’s title race, scoring West Ham’s equaliser against Manchester City and producing 21 defensive contributions as the Hammers took two points off Arsenal’s closest rivals.

That display did not go unnoticed by Mikel Arteta, who was asked about his former player before the Bayer Leverkusen game.

“Yeah, very, very good character,” Arteta responded. “A player that was signed just before I arrived as well, and he had a long-term injury as well, and he didn’t get that many minutes.

“But it’s good to see him doing really well and that’s it, and all the players that have been with us, wish them all the best.”

Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images

Now Mavropanos is preparing to face Arsenal directly, having also scored in West Ham’s Premier League win at Emirates Stadium in December 2023. His message before Sunday was that West Ham have no room for caution.

“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,” said Mavropanos.

“It’s one positive and really important that we play two games at home because we need our fans and their energy in these moments as well to push us.

“We have to make sure that we are going to be ready and we will go for it because that’s the only option.

“Right now, I think it’s getting tough. It’s not in our hands, but the only thing that we have to do is to keep fighting, because it’s football, you never know what’s going to happen and once we give everything we have and get the best out of these three games, then we will see where the table will be in the end.

“With these games, when you really show the effort to the fans and give back to them by winning games, then you can feel the energy from them and the atmosphere at the London Stadium was incredible in the last couple of games as well,” said the defender.

“You feel the connection and you’re just trying to give more and more to the team and to the fans because they deserve it as well.

“They’ve been there through the whole season and they just try to help us from their side as well, so these moments are special.

“Obviously, right now we are not in a good position, but these games [against Manchester City, Wolves and Everton] can be a lesson for us to take into the last three games.

“As I said, having two games at home, the first of them on Sunday, can be a big opportunity for us to give everything we have and get the best out of it.”

For Arsenal, there is no mystery about what awaits. West Ham are under pressure, they are at home, and Mavropanos has framed the game as one they must attack rather than merely survive. That should make the task clear for Arteta’s side, who cannot allow desperation on the other side to unsettle their title push now so close to its final stage.

Mavropanos arrived at Arsenal from PAS Giannina for €2.1m in 2018, but made only eight appearances for the club before joining Stuttgart on loan and then permanently in 2022. West Ham paid €20m to bring him to the London Stadium a year later.

His Arsenal career never truly took hold, but he has already shaped one major moment in this title race.

On Sunday, Arsenal will need to make sure he does not shape another.