Arsenal were beaten by Olympiacos in the second leg of the Europa League Round of 16 last week but the Gunners managed to qualify to the next round thanks to their 3-1 win in the first leg.
This progress will be a huge confidence booster for Mikel Arteta’s side but the Gunners could be staring at a second straight loss as they take on an in-form West Ham United side in the Premier League on Sunday.
Arsenal are currently 10th on the league table with 41 points meaning they have literally no chance of finishing in the top-four this season. And this could be a big reason why the manager might choose to rest a few of his regular starters at the London Stadium on Sunday.
Arsenal are undefeated in 25 of their last 27 matches against West Ham in all competitions but the big cause of concern for Arteta will be the fact that his side have been really poor defensively, failing to keep a clean sheet in their last 11 matches in all competitions.
Arsenal team news vs West Ham:
David Luiz and Gabriel started in central defence in midweek despite many people predicting a return for Rob Holding. The centre-back partnership might see a chance this time around if Arteta wishes to rotate his squad.
Hector Bellerin will be replaced by Cedric Soares at right-back but Kieran Tierney will keep his place in the starting line-up.
Elneny got a rare start vs Olympiacos but he will make way for Thomas Partey on Sunday as the former Atletico man looks to continue his partnership alongside Granit Xhaka.
Martin Odegaard came on as a sub on Thursday but the Real Madrid loanee will replace Ceballos in the starting line-up against the Hammers.
Bukayo Saka missed the Olympiacos game with a muscle injury and there are doubts over his participation on Sunday as well. Some reports though claim that since the youngster has been named in the England national team, he’s likely to be fit before the West Ham game.
After being pushed to the bench last weekend, Aubameyang returned to the starting line-up in midweek but it will be interesting to see if the Arsenal boss chooses to keep the Gabon international in his first XI or does he bring back Lacazette.
The Frenchman has been in great nick over the past few matches so the manager could try and accommodate both the forwards with Lacazette playing as the centre-forward and Aubameyang operating on the left wing.
Stats courtesy Whoscored.
