Out of curiosity - do speed requests from ATC make a difference? I can imagine (quite likely wrongly!) that a higher speed approach, say to 10 miles, would then need a more pronounced reduction in speed, which could require an earlier gear drop as that would create more drag. A slower approach could mean a later lowering as it would then require more thrust to maintain speed due to the increased drag (= noise on the ground), which it would be preferable to keep to a minimum (safety permitting of course).
Or does that play no part in the decision process?