Arsenal just had over seven days to get over their win against Manchester United and fully prepare for a London derby against West Ham for which they have to take a short trip to their home ground, London Stadium.
Arsenal entered into the month of April sitting comfortably in the 4th position. But suddenly 3 losses in a row against Crystal Palace, Brighton, and Southampton shook their comfort zone and let their North London rival Tottenham Hotspurs momentarily surpass them in the points table based on goal difference.
Arsenal was in a dire state. Meanwhile, the 4th place looking comfortable once, suddenly brought flashbacks of the 2018-2019 season when they bottled Top 4 from a better position under Unai Emery. Moreover, the Gunners lost two of their vital members of an established lineup in Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey. Alexandre Lacazette’s goal-scoring drought stretched further and the bench strength looked quite blunt.
With two big fixtures against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and Manchester United coming up, the fans lowered their hope of clinching victories against both of them but that’s what exactly happened. The Gunners scored 7 goals in the process, conceding thrice.
Meanwhile, West Ham had a Europa League tie against Eintracht Frankfurt but suffered a loss on their home leg. Craig Dawson is suspended, and Declan Rice and Michail Antonio are likely to be rested ahead of one of the biggest games in the club’s history this coming Thursday in Germany.
TEAM NEWS
WEST HAM VS ARSENAL: THE HAMMERS TEAM NEWS
After being sent off last week, Craig Dawson will remain suspended. Meanwhile, Angelo Ogbonna and Issa Diop will both miss this one through injury, while Kurt Zouma is just returning from injury. Michail Antonio and Jarrod Bowen could get rest ahead of their visit to Frankfurt.
Predicted Lineup: Fabianski; Johnson, Zouma, Cresswell; Coufal, Soucek, Noble, Masuaku; Benrahma, Vlasic; Yarmolenko
WEST HAM VS ARSENAL: THE GUNNERS TEAM NEWS
As for the visitors, Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey will once again miss out. Japan international Takehiro Tomiyasu made an appearance off the bench against Manchester United, his first in 90 days after recovering from a calf injury. But whether he’s game ready is not quite sure. Another concern for Mikel Arteta could be doubts over the availability of Bukayo Saka. He came limping off in the 74th minute in their 3-1 win over Man Utd. Though many are optimistic as he’s been in training since Thursday.
Predicted Lineup: Ramsdale; Cedric, White, Gabriel, Tavares; Elneny, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Smith-Rowe; Nketiah
OUR PREDICTION
Arsenal has the momentum and quality to beat West Ham at their home. Arsenal will arrive at London Stadium with two back-to-back wins against quality opponents in the form of Chelsea and Manchester United and set their focus only on securing Top 4, the only available route for them to play UCL football. On the other hand, West Ham’s priority and focus will be to qualify for the Europa League final when they play Frankfurt this coming Thursday.
Score Prediction: West Ham 0 – 1 Arsenal
Follow us on Twitter for more football-related updates.
