Matthew Upson knows all about the highs and lows of top level club and international football.

In 2002, Upson won a Premier League winners' medal playing for Arsenal. Just four years later and then in 2010, Upson tasted relegation from the Premier League with first Birmingham City and then West Ham.

Upson played 21 times for England, famously scoring the only goal for Fabio Capello's Three Lions in their 2010 World Cup Round of 16 exit to Germany.

SeatPick was lucky enough to interview Matthew Upson on Tuesday morning with plenty to discuss, including on Arsenal's chances in the Premier League title race and whether he thinks West Ham can stay up.

On The Premier League Title Race

SeatPick: Arsenal, looked to have the Premier League in their back pocket up until earlier this month, but Manchester City have obviously since closed the gap. What do you think the catalyst to that is?

Matthew Upson: I think it's that Arsenal put in a monumental effort into the first 6 months of the season, going down a very specific pathway about how they're going to achieve winning football matches and executing it pretty well, to the point where everyone's looking at it and thinking, they could well do it this season. The downturn in form that Manchester City had last season, the way they've kind of rebuilt and they've slowly got stronger and stronger, fresh players coming in in January, huge in terms of [Marc] Guehi and [Antoine] Semenyo.

City just appear to be in a fresher condition mentally, physically, where they're at in their journey as a team. And Arsenal seem to be dipping for the line, hanging on. So they're two very different places where both groups of players are at, really and I suppose Pep as well, in terms of he's rebuilt that team and he's now seeing the best of this group of players that he's put together over the 18 months.

So, it's interesting to see who's going to hold out, whether or not Arsenal can hold on, or whether City will come strong. It's almost like, you know, when you watch like a race in the velodrome with cyclists and you see the one in the slipstream behind, you think, oh, the guy in the front's won this. And then he's just... the moment they get around the bend and, you know, the forces come in and he just pips him. It kind of reminds me of that a little bit in, in these last 4 games.

On Arsenal & Mikel Arteta

SeatPick: Should Arsenal not win anything this season, Is Mikel Arteta the right man for Arsenal?

Matthew Upson: Let's face it, Arteta has brought success back to the football club from where they were when he took over. They're now a very serious contender across Europe and the Premier League. He's built that over time, which I like. I think he's got a really solid foundation, but he hasn't won enough. And as we know, this is the game, so when you're at a club like Arsenal, you've got to win something. So, if they were to come away empty-handed this season after being across all four competitions in January and looking strong in certainly the Premier League, it will be tough for him as a Head Coach to take as well as the club as a whole.

So I think it's an interesting thought. The club, will have to review what their kind of ideas are and where they want to go, but to finish on this point, what a brilliant job Arteta has done to bring Arsenal as it stands now so close to Premier League and Champions League success.

SeatPick: What do Arsenal need in terms of any reinforcements this summer?

Matthew Upson: I think Arsenal need to decide what they want from a number 9. Havertz is a top player, but not an out and out goal scorer. Gyokeres has scored plenty of goals for Arsenal this season, but is he world class. In my time, we had Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, Nicholas Anelka and Arsenal seem to miss a true number 9, where you look at other top sides and they have them in [Erling] Haaland at Man City, [Ousmane] Dembele at PSG and [Harry] Kane at Bayern.

So, this will be a decision Arsenal will need to look at in terms of how they want to progress here for next season as this squad is excellent. They miss [Mikel] Merino a lot. He brings a lot to the team. You look at the wingers and they have delivered, but not consistently. I thought [Leandro] Trossard was excellent in the first half of the season, but has dropped off a little. [Gabriel] Martinelli as well was excellent in the opening half of the season too.

Arsenal Ticket Prices For Remaining Games Of 2025/2026

Date	Event + Venue	Starting Price (£)
Wed 29 Apr 2026	Atletico Madrid vs Arsenal UCL Semi Final – 1st Leg Riyadh Air Metropolitano, Madrid	£110
Sat 2 May 2026	Arsenal vs Fulham Premier League Emirates Stadium, London	£130
Tue 5 May 2026	Arsenal vs Atletico Madrid UCL Semi Final – 2nd Leg Emirates Stadium, London	£377
Sun 10 May 2026	West Ham United vs Arsenal Premier League London Stadium, London	£117
Sun 17 May 2026	Arsenal vs Burnley Premier League Emirates Stadium, London	£477
Sun 24 May 2026	Crystal Palace vs Arsenal Premier League Selhurst Park, London	£351

All prices based on SeatPick resale listings as of 28 April 2026. Availability and pricing subject to change.

On West Ham's Fight To Stay In The Premier League

SeatPick: Onto the other side of London, one of your other former clubs, West Ham, and Spurs are obviously battling for relegation. How do you think that your former club avoids the drop this, this year?

Matthew Upson: I genuinely think they've got to keep doing what they're doing. I've been super impressed with how they've turned the season around. It was sinking big time. I don't think anyone pictured after the Wolves game away at Molineux that West Ham even had a prayer of staying in the Premier League, to be honest. It was down and out.

The impact that Nuno's had, I think, on the defence more than anything, to be honest. Defensively, they're just a different team. He's got individual performances out of players like [Konstantinos] Mavropanos. [Axel] Disasi coming in and being a very smart signing, the fullbacks playing well.

I think they're a completely different team to what they were. Their current run would suggest that they're now competitive in every game I see them play... drawing at home to Man City, massive point. Against Everton, a great team in form, tough to play against, winning that game. They've, got something back at the club. I think it's put them in this position where they've got good momentum. So whatever Nuno's doing, whatever the feel is in the group, whatever the team spirits like, it's happening. So keep it up. I think if they maintain it, I'm looking at Spurs and their fixtures, and I think that they've got a good chance, certainly.

West Ham Ticket Prices For Remaining Four Games Of 2025/2026

Date	Event + Venue	Starting Price (£)
Sat 2 May 2026	Brentford vs West Ham United Premier League Gtech Community Stadium, London	£126
Sun 10 May 2026	West Ham United vs Arsenal Premier League London Stadium, London	£117
Sun 17 May 2026	Newcastle United vs West Ham United Premier League St James' Park, Newcastle	£67
Sun 24 May 2026	West Ham United vs Leeds United Premier League London Stadium, London	£72

All prices based on SeatPick resale listings as of 28 April 2026. Availability and pricing subject to change.

SeatPick: Finally, talk about Jarrod Bowen, as a West Ham captain and looking ahead to the World Cup for England too.

Matthew Upson: I think he's just outstanding. He's got a great way about him. You know what you get from him regardless of how his day is going, whether or not he's having a good or a bad game. He gives it all every time. I think that that's his star quality, to be honest, along with his talent, consistency of his performances. He's always there. Even when West Ham were looking doom and gloom, he still performed and had the right mentality, and spoke really well.

So I think he's been a really good captain, to be honest, and I think he's the type of personality that, that they've needed. I think a place on the plane with England should happen for Jarrod Bowen. I hope it does, fingers crossed, man.

Ticket Prices For England Group Games At World Cup 2026

Data by SeatPick