Arsenal will take on West Ham United in the Premier League this weekend and Unai Emery must be one tensed man.
The Gunners lost their previous Premier League game 5-1 to Liverpool and much of the blame had to be taken by the poor show from the defenders.
Liverpool carved open Arsenal every time they went forward and against West Ham too, the Arsenal manager could be faced with a similar problem.
Arsenal team news vs West Ham:
Arsenal have as many as nine injuries going into the West Ham game and most of it is in the defensive department.
Laurent Koscielny just returned from a long term injury a couple of weeks back and the defender has once again injured himself. This time the Frenchman has a back problem but Emery is hoping that the centre-back will recover in time to take on the Hammers.
Shkodran Mustafi also picked up a hamstring injury but like Koscielny, he too is expected to be named in the first XI vs West Ham – as per the injury update from Arsenal.
Rob Holding remains a long term absentee with an ACL injury and the centre-back has been ruled out until the end of the season.
Danny Welbeck is another player who is out for the rest of the season after picking up a nasty knee injury.
Mesut Ozil seems to have recovered from his knee injury and should be available for selection this weekend.
Nacho Monreal has a hamstring injury and the full-back will go through a late fitness test before the West Ham game.
Henrikh Mkhitaryan has a metatarsal fracture and will only return to full training next month.
Given that both Koscielny and Mustafi return to full fitness then Unai Emery will name a back three against West Ham on Saturday or else the manager might opt for two centre-backs with Granit Xhaka playing the makeshift role.
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