Julen Lopetegui believes Arsenal are the ‘best team in the Premier League’ as West Ham prepare to host the Gunners on Saturday.
The Hammers look to continue their recent upturn in form when they face Mikel Arteta’s side at London Stadium.
Despite their 2-0 win over Newcastle on Monday, Lopetegui believes his team will need to show more to disrupt Arsenal’s rhythm, which was on full display in the 5-1 win at Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League during the week.
Lopetegui, who will not be in the dugout after an accumulation of three yellow cards, talked up Arteta and Arsenal.
‘The most important thing is the players on the pitch being ready to compete against, in my opinion, for sure the best team in the Premier League and one of the best teams around the world,’ he told a press conference on Thursday.
‘He’s doing fantastic as a coach and managing in a fantastic way at Arsenal, putting his idea and you can see very well how he did and the kind of coach he is but we need to be ready.’
Lopetegui’s touchline ban comes after a booking in Monday’s victory at St James’ Park.
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‘Sometimes I need to improve the way I say my feelings, I have three yellow cards but it’s OK,” the West Ham boss said.
‘Sometimes I’m passionate, I try to say something and I act and make an action with my hands but I have big respect for the referees and I don’t feel anything bad.”
Arsenal have gone unbeaten in all three matches since Martin Odegaard’s return to the starting XI, including Tuesday’s dismantling of the Portuguese champions.
Lopetegui highlighted Arsenal’s depth as a reason behind their recent success.
Speaking on Arsenal’s Tuesday win, the Spanish manager said: ‘It was a very good performance for sure but it’s not only this, normally Arsenal have a lot of solutions and players and have a lot of ways to win. They played well.
‘If I talk about him (Odegaard) then I must talk about Saka (Bukayo), Declan Rice, they have top players, Havertz (Kai) they have two teams.’