Jurriën Timber & Mikel Merinoplaceholder image
Jurriën Timber & Mikel Merino | Getty Images
The latest Arsenal team news, injury updates and predicted starting XI ahead of their Premier League match against West Ham.
Having battled their way past Atlético Madrid to reach the Champions League final in midweek, Arsenal now turn their attention back to the Premier League title race – but between injury worries and the need to keep players fresh for the crucial final weeks of the campaign, Mikel Arteta may be forced to make some changes when they take on West Ham at the London Stadium on Sunday.
On the fitness front, both Jurriën Timber and Mikel Merino are battling to return from injuries in time to play again before the end of the season, while Myles Lewis-Skelly could be a doubt after appearing to pick up a knock before he was substituted during Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final.
With those lingering concerns and questions over whether Arteta will rotate his squad with one eye on the final in Budapest on 30 May, we’ve gathered all the latest Arsenal team news ahead of Sunday’s match – and put together our prediction for the Gunners’ starting line-up.
Will Jurriën Timber or Mikel Merino be fit to face West Ham?
The biggest fitness concerns that Arsenal are dealing with right now concern right-back Timber, who has been absent since March with an ankle injury, and midfielder Merino, who faces an uphill struggle to play again this season after undergoing surgery on a broken foot.
Timber’s injury has already lingered for longer than anticipated. Early reports suggested that the Dutchman could be back in the fold in time for the first leg against Atlético Madrid but he remains unavailable, with little certainty over when he might be back in the side.
“He’s doing some stuff on the pitch at the moment,” Arteta told the press last week. “But we need to get the gears up and be able to do more things before he can compete with us.”
There are no immediate indications that Timber is expected to play against West Ham, with Football Transfers claiming that their sources indicate that he will be “wrapped in cotton wool” in order to ensure that he’s fit for the Champions League final against PSG.
Merino is even less likely to feature this weekend. Arteta told the media recently that the Spaniard would “push every boundary” to play again before the end of the season but there are no reports indicating that he has returned to full training as yet. The West Ham match looks unlikely.
Myles Lewis-Skelly & Martin Ødegaard among Arsenal players nursing knocks
There was also a fresh concern over Lewis-Skelly, who went down with an apparent injury before being replaced by Martín Zubimendi on Tuesday evening – although there is every chance that the youngster was simply engaging in a little bit of time wasting ahead of a planned substitution.
No reports have yet indicated that Lewis-Skelly is a doubt for Sunday’s game but he is among the candidates to be rotated as Arteta looks to give more playing time to other players who are working their way back from recent injuries, including club captain Martin Ødegaard.
The midfielder missed last weekend’s 3-0 win over Fulham due to a knee injury sustained in the first leg against Atlético Madrid but played half an hour on Tuesday, coming on to replace Eberechi Eze. Arteta is likely to want to give the Norwegian more time this weekend to help him build up match fitness.
The same applies to Kai Havertz, who was an unused substitute in midweek. He has missed time recently with what Arteta described as a “muscular niggle” and will likely get some action against West Ham, perhaps from the bench. Bukayo Saka and Riccardo Calafiori are also likely to play only a partial role due to a lack of full match fitness, although both could start.
Arsenal predicted starting XI vs. West Ham (4-2-3-1): Raya; Hincapié, Gabriel, Saliba, White; Zubimendi, Rice; Martinelli, Ødegaard, Saka; Gyökeres.
Continue Reading