Saka and Lacazette start, Predicted Arsenal line-up (4-2-3-1) vs West Ham United – originally posted on Sportslens.com
Arsenal make the trip to the London Stadium for this afternoon’s Premier League clash against West Ham United.
The Gunners were recently beaten 1-0 by Olympiacos in the second leg of the Europa League last 16 tie, but they still qualified for the quarter-final with a 3-2 aggregate win.
Their performance was poor as they missed out on several clear-cut scoring chances and manager Mikel Arteta will anticipate a strong response in the derby.
The north London side are currently 10 points off the final Champions League spot and seven behind the Hammers, who are occupying the Europa League place.
The upcoming game is a must-win for them in order to maintain their slender prospects of qualifying for European football through the league.
They are unbeaten in the last three league games with seven points and have beaten the Hammers in five of the previous six meetings.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Predicted Line-up:
Bernd Leno has been an undisputed choice in goal for the Premier League and Europa League games and he is likely to start between the sticks ahead of Mat Ryan.
Arteta may not make any significant changes to the defence which has looked solid over the past few matches in all competitions.
Hector Bellein could be the only player to make way from the starting line-up. Cedric Soares is likely to replace the Spaniard at right-back.
Thomas Partey looked solid for most part of the north London derby last weekend before he started making a string of fouls.
He was only a substitute against Olympiacos in midweek, but he was guilty of squandering possession on multiple occasions.
Arteta should still back him in the starting XI and he is likely to be accompanied by Granit Xhaka in the centre of the park.
Further forward, Bukayo Saka has been deemed fit after a minor hamstring injury, and he i likely to return on the right wing ahead of Nicolas Pepe.
Martin Odegaard has netted in back-to-back starts for the Gunners, but he missed a glorious scoring chance in midweek, coming off the bench.
He was still lively with two key passes for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe, who also squandered easily scoring opportunities.
The Norwegian is likely to replace Dani Ceballos in the number 10 role today with Emile Smith Rowe operating on the left flank.
Aubameyang may be dropped to the bench after his poor showing against Olympiacos where he could have had a hat-trick.
Instead, the club-captain failed to find the back of the net and Alexandre Lacazette is a likely candidate to replace him up front.
Lacazette has also misfired in front of goal lately, but he put in a good shift against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and scored the winning penalty.
Predicted Arsenal line-up (4-2-3-1): Leno; Cedric, Luiz, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; Lacazette.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com and Whoscored.com
Read: Arsenal confirm double injury boost ahead of West Ham United clash.