A good result between City and Chelsea could give Arsenal the chance to gain some ground and move into the top 3. A draw would be perfect for the Gunners who need a win to tie with City or to go above them if they lose. On paper Wenger’s side should not encounter any major issues against the Hammers who have had a dreadful season managing to get only 12 points out of 13 games so fsr.
There are some concerns regarding today’s game as the right side of the defence seems to be cursed. Bellerin got injured and after that Debuchy picked up a hamstring injury which will keep him in recovery for the next 6 weeks. Unfortunately, Jenkinson doesn’t seem to cut it as his lack of games is quite visible. Because of that Wenger might need to improvise a bit by using one of these two players:
Gabriel – The Brazilian centre-back has played next to Mustafi and Koscielny a couple of times and has some pace to his game. He’s no Bellerin but we all know there are not many who could keep up with the Spaniard. Gabriel does have experience as a right-back as almost half of his last season at Esporte Clube Vitoria was spent as a full-back. He also played a handful of games as a right-back for Villarreal and performed in the same position for Arsenal last season against Bournemouth. He is missing the attacking skills to help Walcott though which might turn Wenger towards his second option.
Oxlade-Chamberlain – the right winger has a good chance of starting against West Ham as he is a lot more capable of handling not one but two players on his side. West Ham uses a 3-4-3 formation with Masuaku (Cresswell is injured) and Payet providing the attacking power and quite a lot of pace, pace with which Gabriel may struggle. According to Squawka, Oxlade-Chamberlain is willing to take on any challenge even if it is out of his preferred range:
“It’s not my preferred choice of position but the times I’ve been asked to go and play there it’s been for a reason – to add more attack to the team. When I’ve gone on those times I’ve just tried to focus.
“Yeah, maybe I’d rather go on the wing but I’ve been asked to go and do a job so I get my head down and try and do that. The way we play football, I know enough that Hector [Bellerin] is forever running past me. The full-backs in our team have the license to go forward so when we’ve got the ball it’s not too dissimilar to playing on the wing.”
“The thing I have to focus on when I’m playing there is the defensive aspect. I’m not used to playing next to Mustafi, stepping up and doing those defensive things. It’s not my first choice of where I’d like to play but if I have to do it I get my head down and focus on doing it.”
In terms of lot Arsenal have to deal with additional trouble. Aside from Bellerin and Debuchy, Cazorla was ruled out for the next three months, Giroud is not fit to play as he is suffering from groin pain and Elneny is sick. Xhaka and Coquelin will most likely start and Iwobi will return on the left.
West Ham will have to play without Cresswell, Antonio, Sakho and Byram. Andy Carroll will be in the lot but there’s doubt when it comes to him playing the whole 90 minutes. Ayew is also back in training but he might be in the same situation as Carroll.
Despite all the absences, Arsenal are favorites against a struggling West Ham team which is surrounded by transfer rumors and by negative thoughts. We predict the Gunners will win 2-0 with a small chance of conceding a goal from Carroll who is a nightmare to mark especially without Mertesacker around.