WEST Ham handed Arsenal a second loss in three English Premier League (EPL) matches, damaging Unai Emery’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League.

Youth team graduate Declan Rice scored his first West Ham goal in the 1-0 victory over Arsenal on Saturday. The 19-year-old Rice placed the ball into the top of the net after being set up by Samir Nasri on the former Arsenal midfielder’s league debut for West Ham. It left Arsenal six points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, which beat Newcastle 2-1.

Yet to gain a significant uplift in fortunes in the post-Arsene Wenger era, Arsenal is facing another season in the Europa League unless it wins the competition to qualify for the Champions League.

Fifth-placed Arsenal is only two points better off after 22 Premier League games than in Wenger’s final season in charge.

By beating Arsenal at home for the first time since 2006, West Ham climbed to eighth place.

But there is uncertainty at the east London club over the future of striker Marko Arnautovic, who appeared to wave goodbye to the Olympic Stadium when he was substituted in the second half. It came at the end of a week when the Austrian pushed — through his brother — to be sold to a Chinese club and West Ham insisted he was not for sale.

Mesut Ozil didn’t even appear on the bench for Arsenal with uncertainty over the playmaker’s future.

“I decided the idea of the players that I think are the best for this match,” Emery said. “We win with him, we lose with him. I think it is not one player, which means we can’t win or lose.

“Today the players who were here are the players who deserved to be in this match. We could’ve won or lost. We continue working with every player because they are all important, but today the decision was to come with these players.”

Liverpool, though, is well placed to end its 29-year league drought. After the leader’s unbeaten start was ended by Manchester City and then it was knocked out of the FA Cup by Wolverhampton Wanderers, Liverpool beat Brighton 1-0 thanks to Mohamed Salah. The African player of the year netted a penalty four minutes into the second half after being brought down by Pascal Gross.

It put Liverpool seven points ahead of City ahead of the champion playing Wolves today.

“It was not the best performance of the season in a few departments but from a maturity point of view, I would say it is the most mature performance in the season,” Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said. “We are not the Harlem Globetrotters. We have to deliver results.”

After being linked with a departure from Stamford Bridge, Willian insisted his “future is at Chelsea” after curling a winner into the top corner of the Newcastle goal in the 57th minute.

Chelsea should have completed the job far sooner after Pedro Rodriguez netted the opener in the ninth minute. But Ciaran Clark equalized in the 40th minute after leaping to reach Matt Ritchie’s corner and heading past goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga.  (SD-Agencies)