Nuno Espirito Santo faces a huge test in his second game in charge of West Ham, as the East Londoners travel a few short miles through the capital to face Arsenal.
The Gunners showed their mettle in the Premier League last time out with a smash and grab win at Newcastle, a notoriously difficult fixture for them in the past.
Emirates Stadium a happy hunting ground for the Hammers
Nuno can draw inspiration, however, from the hoodoo that the Hammers currently hold over the North Londoners at the Emirates Stadium.
If West Ham were to win again on Saturday, it would be a third successive victory over Mikel Arteta's side on their own patch, something that only Pep Guardiola's Man City have managed to date.
To give further context to just how good an achievement that would be, Arsenal have only lost four of their last 42 home Premier League matches (W29 D9), two of which were against West Ham.
What's more, the last 10 points that the East Londoners have earned (won three games, drawn one) have all come away from the London Stadium.
The visitors have only ever won three away games in a row against Arsenal once, however, between November 1991 and March 1995.
Bowen the danger man for West Ham
Jarrod Bowen scored last season's winner - his fifth against the Gunners - and, after securing a point at Everton in Nuno's first match, will be keen to add to his goals scored column.
Indeed, the England forward has 11 goal involvements in his last 12 EPL appearances (eight goals, three assists).
In a match that could see Bukayo Saka make his 200th appearance for the Gunners, another Irons win could be a tall order.
That's because the visitors have lost more Premier League London derbies than any other team (134), as well as losing eight of their previous 11 (W2 D1).
Not to mention that Arsenal have only lost one of their last eight English top-flight games (Liverpool), drawn one (Man City) and won the other six.
Since May, when that run began, the North Londoners have actually picked up more points than any other team in the division (19), and if they continue to profit from set pieces, it won't just be West Ham that will find it difficult to live with them.
Set-pieces remain a vital piece of Arsenal's armoury
The injury-time winner at St. James' Park, for example, came via a corner, with nine of their last 14 Premier League goals (Seven corners, one free-kick, one penalty) also coming as a result of a well-worked set-piece routine - the spot-kick being the exception.
Corners in particular have become a fearsome weapon in Arteta's armoury, with 64 of the 408 goals scored during his tenure to date (16.7%) coming as a direct result of one.
Gabriel has also become synonymous with scoring powerful headers from corners, and the match winner vs the Magpies was his 18th Premier League goal for Arsenal - the most of any defender in the competition since his debut in September 2020.
Only Tony Pulis (21.9%) and Sean Dyche (18.6%) have seen a higher share of goals from corners for those Premier League managers who have overseen 300+ games.
With respect to those two managers, Arsenal's football is on a different level entirely.
Saka has a chance to reach a century of goal involvements
Saka will have the chance to reach 100 Premier League goal involvements were he to come up with a goal or assist on the day, and against a porous West Ham defence, you wouldn't bet against that happening.
In terms of injuries and suspensions for both sides, Arsenal can't call upon the services of Gabriel Jesus, Piero Hincapie, Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz, whilst Gabriel will face a late fitness test after picking up a slight knock against Olympiacos.
George Earthy is out for West Ham, both Jean-Clair Todibo and Aaron Wan-Bissaka face late fitness tests, and Tomas Soucek remains suspended as he serves the last of his three-match ban.
Why three points are important to both sides
With Liverpool facing a tough trip to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea directly after the London derby, Mikel Arteta will surely be driving home the point to his squad regarding just how important these next three points could be, to put pressure on a Reds side that have had a bit of a blip over the past couple of games.
Win, lose or draw in this one, Nuno will at least have more time to work with his squad after playing Arsenal given that there is an international break between Saturday's game and their next assignment, at home a fortnight on Monday to Brentford.
Putting as many points on the board as possible has to be the aim for the Portuguese, and the strength of his team's character at the Emirates will serve notice as to what to expect for the remainder of the 2025/26 campaign.
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