Following their mid-week exit’s from the League Cup, both sides will be looking to get back on course in what promises to be another unpredictable London derby.
November has been more ‘timid’ for Arsene Wenger than he’s used to, but things weren’t helped earlier this week as he was dealt a massive blow on two long-term injuries.
After Spurs and Manchester United dropped points last week, there’s a real chance for the Gunners to step up their pursuit of the title and keep up with the teams at the top.
To do that, he’ll need to ensure his players forget about what happened at the Emirates on Wednesday night and come out fighting after near enough the entire squad got a full week rest.
West Ham on the other hand went all out to get into the semi-final of the EFL Cup, and there could be some tired legs for Slaven Bilic to consider as well as a mountain of injury concerns.
Team News
Arsenal
As we mentioned above, Santi Cazorla is set to miss up to three months of action after the club confirmed he will undergo surgery on his right ankle next week.
Olivier Giroud and Mohamed Elneny will undergo fitness tests to determine whether they’ll feature, but it looks as if the Frenchman could have to wait until the trip to Basel.
That news wasn’t helped with Mathieu Debuchy adding to the list, he’ll be sidelined for six weeks after sustaining a hamstring injury in the opening 15 minutes of last weekend’s 3-1 win.
Wenger has suggested Gabriel will start at right-back after stating he would play the Brazilian if he was mentally and physically stable following the Chapeconese plane crash.
The good news is that Danny Welbeck is now back in full training and will be available by January, whilst Lucas Perez gives the boss another option in the attacking ranks.
Arsenal Absentees: P. Mertesacker (knee), D. Welbeck (match fitness), S. Cazorla (ankle), M. Debuchy (hamstring) O. Giroud (hamstring – doubt)
West Ham
Despite returning to the squad recently, Diafra Sakho will miss this one after picking up yet another injury on Wednesday night, leaving Slaven Bilic’s options minimal up top.
Andy Carroll is facing a fitness battle to be ready in time, he managed to bag an eight minute hat-trick the last time these two sides met at Upton Park.
Pivotal to their 3-5-2 formation, both first-choice wing-backs Michail Antonio and Aaron Cresswell are both missing after they were forced off earlier this week.
That could mean some heavy reshuffling for West Ham, meaning they’ll be more reliant than ever on the abilities of Payet and Lanzini, both massive attacking threats.
West Ham Absentees: M. Antonio (groin), S. Byram (hamstring), A. Carroll (knee), A. Cresswell (groin), R. Oxford (leg) D. Sakho (thigh), G. Tore (thigh)
One’s To Watch
Arsenal – Mesut Ozil
After getting a full week to rest, we should see a side to Ozil that will spark some excellent attacking play to take advantage of West Ham’s dodgy defensive issues.
Working alongisde Alexis, these two have managed to form a beautiful partnership and I for one am not ready to see them start dropping off the pace now.
Ozil will be well aware that he might not travel to the Basel game in mid-week purely for a rest, so he’ll want to give everything in a tie that three points would do wonders for our title charge.
Aaron Ramsey was given the chance to show what he can do in the no.10 role earlier this week but didn’t have much luck, once again showing what an important cog Ozil is to our machine.
West Ham – Mark Noble
Hardly the guy that strikes fear into the minds of Kostafi, but Noble has been a massive part of this West Ham side for years now and knows what it takes to break down the Gunners.
Much like Michael Carrick, he’s a controller of the play and isn’t afraid to get stuck in to challenges when needed, so Arsenal mustn’t underestimate his presence in deep lying midfield.
We were outplayed in midfield by the likes of United and Spurs in my opinion, so Arsenal have to ensure they don’t give him any space in the opening 45 minutes.
Shutting him out of the game isn’t easy however, but anyone we throw into midfield can beat him for pace so let’s see how he fairs on the counter attack. I expect him to sit very deep.
Likely Line-Ups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech, Gabriel, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Xhaka, Walcott, Ozil, The Ox, Alexis
West Ham (3-4-2-1): Randolph, Kouyate, Reid, Ogbonna, Fernandes, Obiang, Noble, Masuaku, Lanzini, Payet, Ayew
Prediction: West Ham 2 – 2 Arsenal
Hmmm, when you look at this fixture on paper you can only really see it going one way (three points heading back to the red side of London).
Arsenal haven’t looked convincing in recent weeks and unless Wenger can start to find some rhythm in this starting XI, we won’t look comfortable on the ball.
The good news is that Lucas is back, not only does that provide us with a Plan C at centre forward, it also keeps the likes of Iwobi and The Ox on their toes for a place on the left-wing.
One free-kick could change everything in this game because we know what Payet can do with that right foot… They haven’t lost at home for three consecutive games and I don’t think we’ll have enough to end that run.
Here’s hoping I’m wrong!
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