West Ham United manager Graham Potter has a quartet of unavailable players for the London derby at Arsenal on Saturday. Three of them: Crysencio Summerville, Vladimir Coufal and Niclas Fullkrug, have hamstring/thigh problems.
We start with Crysencio, whose timeline is for return has now been delayed. We won’t see him again until April.
London Derby FYIs
Kickoff: Sat. Feb. 22, 3pm GMT, Emirates Stadium, London, UK
Team News & Starting XI Predictions: Arsenal FC West Ham United
PL Form: Arsenal WDWWW West Ham WLDLL
PL Standing: Arsenal 2nd, 53 pts West Ham 16th, 27 pts
Google Result Probability: Arsenal win 77% West Ham United win 8% Draw 15%
West Ham United Team News
“Summerville has had a setback, so we’re looking after the international break for him,” Potter said. “He just felt something, which is disappointing.”
With Fullkrug, the timeline for return remains indefinite; ditto for Coufal, who is battling a hamstring strain.
The fourth and final absentee is Michail Antonio, who is of course, done for the season. So with that in mind, let’s get to the first team prediction.
Starting XI Prediction at Arsenal FC
Alphonse Areola; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Emerson Palmieri; Edson Alvarez, Carlos Soler, Tomas Soucek; Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
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