Arsenal have a few injury concerns to contend with as West Ham United come visiting to the Emirates stadium on Saturday night. The North London club started their Premier League campaign in an impressive fashion as they ran out 3-0 winners at Fulham. Now, their focus will shift to their next London derby, against West Ham United this weekend.
There are some injury concerns going into the game, but manager Mikel Arteta will be confident of a strong showing. Here is the latest team news.
Arsenal have long-term injury absentees in Pablo Mari, Shkodran Mustafi, Gabriel Martinelli and so on. But the North Londoners could have another injury problem to contend with, in the form of Granit Xhaka. The Swiss midfield general was substituted off with an ankle problem at Fulham. There are more injury issues in Sokratis and Emile Smith-Rowe too.
Another player who didn’t see action against Fulham and could be out of Saturday’s game is Brazilian centre back David Luiz. Arsenal are reporting (via Express) that the defender is currently being assessed and undergoing treatment with good response.
But even among the long-term absentees, there is some good news as Pablo Mari might be back in full training soon.
Mikel Arteta will want his team to continue the form that they showed against Fulham. They had a tough start to the game, but soon grew into the proceedings and eventually came out as comfortable winners.
The Spanish boss will be looking for a repeat of this display against a stronger West Ham side.
One piece of good news for Arsenal fans this week is captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang finally putting pen to paper and agreeing to a new deal. He has already scored two goals and this is a good chance for him to continue his hot streak.
Even with injuries to contend with, Arteta will feel confident that his team has what it takes to get the three points on Saturday. There might be a couple of lineup changes from the first match, but the boss is expected to put out a strong side. Getting another win will be crucial for building momentum at the early part of the season.