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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 11 DECEMBER 2019 21 SPORTS FOOTBALL WEST Ham manager Manuel Pel- legrini is odds-on to be the next Pre- mier League manager to be sacked, fol- lowing Monday's 3-1 defeat to Arsenal. The Hammers lie 16th in the Premier League table and face a Saturday even- ing showdown with fellow strugglers Southampton next, after a disappoint- ing performance in which they lacked cutting edge. Even without a great deal of creativity, West Ham had Arsenal in trouble having taken the lead, but three goals in the space of 10 second-half minutes turned the game on its head. Pellegrini said: "We dominated for 60 minutes. Maybe scoring the second goal would have been so important. "It (booing at the end) was understandable because the last five games that we play here, we didn't win. "If you don't win at home, your fans are not going to be happy. "You cannot concede three goals in every game. Un- fortunately for us, we are doing wrong things, but we need to continue fight- ing." Asked if he thought he could fix it, Pellegrini added: "Of course." West Ham's defeat made them the first home side to lead Arsenal at half-time and go on to lose in the Premier League since Chelsea way back in October 2011, and the bookmaker reaction has been to slash Pellegrini's odds in the 'sack-race' market. The former Man City boss is 1/3 with Sky Bet, the latest odds-on favourite in a turbulent market following three de- partures recently - Mauricio Pochettino, Unai Emery and Marco Silva. Victory for Arsenal was Freddie Ljung- berg's first since taking over as caretaker following the departure of Emery, and he's 3/1 to get the job on a permanent basis. Massimiliano Allegri is next in the betting alongside Mikel Arteta, the former Gunners midfielder currently as- sistant to Pep Guardiola as Manchester City, with both eased to 7/2. Another ex-Arsenal player, Patrick Vieira, is 6/1 while a headline-making move for Po- chettino is far from ruled out at 9/1. In Focus: Pellegrini and Ljungberg Three goals in the space of nine sec- ond-half minutes saw Arsenal win in the Premier League for the first time since October and give interim boss Freddie Ljungberg a maiden victory in charge after a 3-1 triumph at West Ham. Manuel Pellegrini looked set for a second success in three games after Angelo Ogbonna's 38th-minute goal, but the hosts capitulated following the interval at London Stadium. We take a closer look at how the two managers fared on Monday evening. Team Selection After a 2-1 defeat at home to Bright- on last time out, Ljungberg was brave and made four changes - later five after Hector Bellerin suffered an injury in the warm-up - with Gabriel Martinelli handed a first Premier League start. Record-signing Nicolas Pepe was also included from the off along with Calum Chambers and Kieran Tierney while Ainsley Maitland-Niles was summoned just before kick-off to slot into the right- back role. The Swede boldly dropped Alexandre Lacazette and David Luiz to the bench and saw young guns Pepe and Martinelli inspire a second-half come- back. Pellegrini was boosted by the re- turn of Michail Antonio and opted for his physicality up top, with Sebastien Haller among the substitutes, but left it too late to bring the £45million striker on. Crowd Reception It took the visiting supporters 28 min- utes before they serenaded Ljungberg with 'we love you Freddie' but rival boss Pellegrini was not afforded any chants from the home fans. Half-time was a different story with the Arsenal faith- ful booing after an insipid display by the Gunners which saw them trailing by one goal at the break. But Martinelli's strike on the hour mark changed everything and the away fans were singing 'we are staying up' six minutes later and did not stop getting until full time. For Pellegrini and West Ham on the other hand, his decision to withdraw Felipe Anderson in the 70th minute resulted in him being booed and they would have been louder at the end of the game had the stadium not been virtually empty. Touchline demeanour The experienced Pellegrini was ani- mated early on and so was opposite number Ljungberg, who had problems by the half an hour mark when Tierney was forced off with a shoulder injury. The stoppage gave the Gunners in- terim boss time for chats with Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Sokratis Papastathopoulos, although it failed to have the desired effect. West Ham opened the scoring when Og- bonna's effort deflected in. Pellegrini jumped out of his seat and fist pump, but three minutes later he had his head in his hands when Pablo Fornals failed to pick out Antonio inside the area. The Chilean was continuously pa- trolling the touchline and showed his frustration with Arthur Masuaka early into the second half when the substitute took his time to get ready to come on and replace the injured Aaron Cress- well. He was even more unhappy when Arsenal found an equaliser, but Ljun- gberg wanted more and got his wish when Pepe curled home to make it 2-1. The one-time West Ham winger shared a hug with the record signing when he was replaced with two minutes left and the boss received applause from the away fans after, with the Gunners tak- ing a small step in the right direction. Manuel Pellegrini odds-on for West Ham exit after Arsenal defeat West Ham manger Manuel Pellegrini is odds-on to be the next Premier League manger to be sacked