Mikel Arteta confirms five Arsenal players will be out of West Ham clash
|Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed that he will be without five players for the Premier League clash against West Ham United on Thursday night.
The north London giants are currently second in the league standings behind Liverpool with 40 points and they have the opportunity to reclaim top spot by beating the Hammers tomorrow.
Ahead of the encounter, Arteta has revealed that there is nothing positive regarding team news.
Thomas Partey and Takehiro Tomiyasu have not trained yet with the team after respective injuries, and the Spanish tactician confirmed that they won’t be available for the London derby.
Aside from them, Kai Havertz is suspended while Jurrien Timber and Fabio Vieira are also out injured. The manager acknowledged that the club will be without five players for the game.
He said in a live press conference on Arsenal.com: “No nothing has changed yet. We’re not going to have those two, then we have the suspension of Kai, so I think we’re gonna have five out, but we have lots of other players willing to play.”
Arsenal need to return to winning ways
The Gunners have been brilliant at the Emirates Stadium over the past few months.
They have won seven on the bounce across all competitions. The club recently dominated Brighton & Hove Albion and ended up with a convincing 2-0 victory.
Despite this, they can’t afford any complacency against the Hammers. Last season, Arsenal were 2-0 up at the London Stadium within 10 minutes but squandered the advantage for a draw.
David Moyes’ side can’t be taken lightly in tomorrow’s encounter. The Gunners need to start with a high tempo. They must find an early goal to ease their nerves.
The club played out a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Anfield last weekend. They should return to winning ways tomorrow while extending the unbeaten league streak in London derbies to 18 games.
Stats from Transfermarkt.com