Arsenal 3-1 West Bromwich Albion: Premier League – live!

2.40pm EDT 14:40

39 min: West Brom need to score twice, then, to avoid relegation being confirmed today. They’re wobbling at the moment though, as Willian gets in behind again and forces a corner.

2.39pm EDT 14:39

36 min: Johnstone got fingertips to that Pepe effort but there was far too much sauce on the shot. I think I’m right in saying that there have only been more four expensive signings in the history of British football (Pogba, Maguire, Van Dijk and Lukaku) – those sort of goals make that fact feel not quite so crazy.

2.36pm EDT 14:36

GOAL! Arsenal 2-0 West Brom (Pépé 34)

That’s a stunning strike. Pépé cuts inside from the right, as is his wont, and across the corner of the area. From there he sends a thunderous effort across Johnstone and into the top corner.

Nicolas Pepe of Arsenal scores to make it 2-0. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian Kyle Bartley and Okay Yokuslu of West Bromwich Albion look dejected after conceding. Photograph: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images

Updated at 3.23pm EDT

2.34pm EDT 14:34

32 min: Elneny and Ceballos have grabbed control of midfield and Albion are struggling to break their grip.

2.31pm EDT 14:31

GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 West Brom (Smith Rowe 29)

The Gunners had just been gradually turning up the heat over the last few minutes and they have the breakthrough. Predictably it comes through Saka, who has been the best Arsenal player on the pitch by some distance. Again he wriggles clear on the left, a little punched cross finds Smith Rowe at knee-height and the youngster volleys home emphatically.

Arsenal’s Emile Smith Rowe scores their first goal. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated at 3.53pm EDT

2.28pm EDT 14:28

28 min: A scuffed corner bobbles across the West Brom box and somehow evades the Arsenal attackers.

2.27pm EDT 14:27

26 min: … Willian floats it in to the back post, Holding volleys across but it hits a defender and its out for a corner.

2.26pm EDT 14:26

25 min: Pass, pass, pass from Arsenal. It’s not entirely clear what the plan is … but Cebellos tempts Phillips into a daft challenge and Arsenal have a dangerous free-kick, 30-ish yards out …

Updated at 2.26pm EDT

2.24pm EDT 14:24

23 min: Albion throw-in on the right and it’s Furlong’s turn to send the ball into the box. Again Arsenal deal with it comfortably.

2.21pm EDT 14:21

22 min: Elneny looks to bend in an effort from distance but it’s straight at Johnstone.

2.21pm EDT 14:21

21 min: The worry for West Brom will be that they’ve been the better side for 20 minutes but have exactly nothing to show for it.

2.20pm EDT 14:20

19 min: Three dangerous crosses in quick succession from West Brom but they meet either fresh air or the heads of defenders. Diagne was a whisker away from getting on the end of one of them.

2.18pm EDT 14:18

18 min: Saka again gets away down the left and Furlong just gets back to make a superb tackle. For a second that looked like it was going to be a nailed-on penalty but the young Albion right-back did brilliantly.

Darnell Furlong of West Bromwich Albion and Bukayo Saka of Arsenal. Photograph: Tom Jenkins/The Guardian

Updated at 2.45pm EDT

2.17pm EDT 14:17

17 min: Superb from Saka on the left, skipping past Robinson and to the byline. His cross, though, cannot find a red shirt.

2.16pm EDT 14:16

16 min: Ajayi’s clearance finds Pereira wide on the left and he surges forward on the break before blasting a couple of yards wide from distance.

2.15pm EDT 14:15

14 min: West Brom hit the bar! Robinson controls a cross from the left and pokes past Leno, onto the woodwork. The flag then goes up and replays show he was clearly offside but still – Arsenal have just not got going yet.

2.13pm EDT 14:13

12 min: Robinson turns in the area and sees his shot blocked by Holding. Then Pereira picks up the loose ball, slips inside and pings a screamer inches wide of the top corner from 25 yards. West Brom certainly the livelier team thus far.

2.11pm EDT 14:11

10 min: Ajayi thunks the ball foreard and out for a throw in by the Arsenal corner flag. It looks like a terrible ball but it’s really not too bad in this territory-based plan of Big Sam. Indeed West Brom quickly win the ball back in the Arsenal half and look to build again.

2.09pm EDT 14:09

8 min: Townsend goes long and aimless; Gabriel tidies up. There’s no mystery in the way West Brom are going to play.

2.06pm EDT 14:06

6 min: The blue-booted Ceballos slips a lovely ball into the left channel for Saka. His cross pings around in the area and pops up to Pepe, who skews well over from 10 yards. Only a half-chance at best, but that was decent from the home side.

2.05pm EDT 14:05

5 min: Elneny is loose in midfield and a spell of Arsenal possession ends with West Brom on the attack. Townsend hoiks the ball in from left back and Leno claims comfortably.

2.02pm EDT 14:02

2 min: West Brom get a throw-on on the left and Townsend hurls hit into the box. Holding gets up and nods away for a corner.

1.57pm EDT 13:57

Click-clack, click-clack … out come the teams, Arsenal in red, Baggies in their green and yellow away kit.

1.36pm EDT 13:36

There have been further protests against the Arsenal ownership outside the ground this evening. Lovely day for it to be fair.

Arsenal fans hold banners against owner Stan Kroenke during a protest outside of the Emirates Stadium before the game against West Brom. Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

1.33pm EDT 13:33

Here’s the mountain facing West Brom:

Defeat tonight sees them relegated.

1.19pm EDT 13:19

A bit of pre-match reading for you: here’s Jonathan Wilson on football’s billionaire owners.

There are no easy answers to how football tackles its billionaire owners | Jonathan Wilson

1.11pm EDT 13:11

The lineups

Arsenal (4-2-3-1 probable)Leno; Chambers, Holding, Gabriel, Saka; Ceballos, Elneny; Pepe, Willian, Smith Rowe; Martinelli. Subs: Runarsson, Bellerin, Tierney, Cedric, Partey, Odegaard, Lacazette, Aubameyang, Nketiah.

West Brom (4-3-3 probable)Johnstone; Furlong, Ajayi, Bartley, Townsend; Phillips, Yokuslu, Gallagher; Pereira, Diagne, Robinson. Subs: Button, Peltier, Taylor, O’Shea, Gardner-Hickman, Livermore, Diangana, Grant, Robson-Kanu.

So Martinelli will spearhead the Arsenal attack. Looks like West Brom will revert to a back four.

Updated at 1.13pm EDT

12.54pm EDT 12:54

Preamble

Hello all. And welcome to a proper, good old Sunday night misery fest. Arsenal, who are, shall we say, not having a nice time of it, welcome West Brom, who could be relegated, to the Emirates at a kick-off time no one could possibly enjoy.

Albion need a point to stave off relegation for a few days at least and they’ve got a fighting chance. Over the past 10 games they picked up only two fewer points than Arsenal (13 to the Gunners’ 15) and Sam Allardyce has finally managed to instill some stubborness in the squad – just three defeats in the last 11 games isn’t bad going.

Arsenal … well, Arsenal. Nick Ames’s piece on Friday seemed to cut right through to the point – Arsenal are coming up short in all aspects at the moment, on and off the pitch.

In trouble from top to bottom: chaotic Arsenal are failing in all areas | Nick Ames

Kick off is at 7pm BST.