Manuel Pellegrini targets West Ham festive cheer - starting by beating Arsenal

The Hammers boss is harking back to Christmas Past ahead of the London derby on Monday night

Manuel Pellegrini is not the ghost of Christmas Past but he is looking back to this time last year for inspiration as West Ham take on Arsenal at London Stadium on Monday night.

It's the Hammers final home game before Christmas as they take on the Gunners this evening, face Southampton away at the weekend then travelling to Crystal Palace on Boxing Day.

Pellegrini is in need of some festive cheer after a dreadful run of form which has seen his team win just once since September 22, ten games ago, a run that has seen them slide down the table.

The Hammers gained some momentum by beating Chelsea just over a week ago but then slumped to defeat in midweek at Wolves, going down 2-0.

Around this time last year, the Hammers were in good nick. December 1 2019 saw Pellegrini's side embark on a four-game winning run as they beat Newcastle, Cardiff, Crystal Palace and Fulham in successive games before the run was ended with defeat to Watford on December 22.

One year on, Pellegrini is hoping to pull a cracker by seeing off an equally out of form Arsenal outfit who dispensed with manager Unai Emery a fortnight ago and replaced him Freddie Ljungberg on a temporary basis.

Writing in his programme notes, the manager said: "At this time a season ago, we showed our greatest consistency and form and I believe we can do the same again.

"Looking ahead, we face a unique situation this month, with no match for almost two weeks after facing Southampton next Saturday, followed by an intense schedule of of four matches in the space of ten days.

"We hope the break will give us the opportunity to get some injured players closer to full fitness nd allow the squad to arrive for that busy period in the best possible condition."