Arsenal will move to within five points of Premier League leaders Liverpool if they beat West Ham United on Saturday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The Reds have left the door open for the Gunners to make this a proper title race, with two draws from their previous three outings ensuring Arne Slot’s side are yet to pull away.<\/p>\n
Arsenal have dealt with plenty of adversity this season and are currently functioning with very few options in attack. Mikel Arteta turned to midfielder-cum-centre-forward Mikel Merino to secure all three points at Leicester last weekend.<\/p>\n
The victory saw the Gunners extend their unbeaten run in this competition to 15 games.<\/p>\n
West Ham, on the contrary, are struggling towards the bottom of the table. Graham Potter is yet to oversee a notable resurgence following the departure of Julen Loptegui last month. The Hammers are winless in four league outings and currently reside in 16th.<\/p>\n
They could do with a few points over the coming weeks to alleviate fears of slipping into the relegation scrap.<\/p>\n
There hasn’t been any change on the injury front since last week’s win at Leicester, although we learnt that Takehiro Tomiyasu underwent season-ending knee surgery. The Japanese international has played just six minutes this term as a result of the issue.<\/p>\n
Ben White was back in the matchday squad at King Power but didn’t feature off the bench. He’ll be hoping for his first minutes since November on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are due back next month, while Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are out for the long haul.<\/p>\n
Arteta may also decide to utilise makeshift centre-forward Mikel Merino from the outset against West Ham given his success off the bench last Saturday.<\/p>\n
Arsenal predicted lineup vs West Ham (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Merino, Trossard.<\/p>\n
The visitors were dealt a blow in the week as Lucas Paqueta sustained an ankle injury which Potter has confirmed will keep him out of Saturday’s game.<\/p>\n
Paqueta joins Crysencio Summerville and Vladimir Coufal on the sidelines.<\/p>\n
Niclas Fullkrug and Michail Antonio also remain out, so we could see a first West Ham start for January singing Evan Ferguson. The Irish international performed brightly off the bench last weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"