Unai emery visits West Ham and the London Stadium for the first time as Arsenal Head Coach, and with six first team players returning to full training in the last week, he's blessed with an abundance of options in defence for the first real time. Arsenal cannot afford to lose anymore ground on the top four, and in playing first this weekend they can really put the pressure on with a win. With this in mind, it's expected that a number of returning defenders will start this game as the team needs to be at its absolute strongest in chasing another three points.
Away at West Ham, we can expect to see an aerial assault from Andy Carroll, who in seasons of late, always seems to cause the defence serious issues and often scores a goal or two. Added to a minor injury, bids coming in this week for Marko Arnautovic could mean that the striker may have his head on the turn and not on West Ham affairs, meaning that Carroll is even more likely to play. To combat this threat, Unai Emery should be looking to deploy a back three with wingbacks in the midfield. Mustafi, Sokratis and Monreal should be the three he goes for as they provide a good balance with a natural left footer on the left and decent pace and experience. Skipper Laurent Koscielny is in contention to start but two or three months ago Sokratis and Mustafi (alongside Holding) were really building something together in his absence, and its likely that Emery goes for this combination again tomorrow. Dinos Mavropanos is another who returned to full training this week but having been out for the entire season so far, his integration back into the first team is likely to be a slow one. The FA Cup against Man United could be a good opportunity for him. Having seen Petr Cech play last weekend in the FA Cup, Bernd Leno will return in goal looking for only his second full clean sheet in the league.
Further forward, Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka should continue their dynamic partnership in central midfield whilst the increasingly impressive Sead Kolasinac should play in the left wingback role. Hector Bellerin may not be at his best defensively this season but his lightning pace, especially in the wingback position, makes him far more useful than Lichtsteiner or Jenkinson so it's very likely that he'll return to the starting XI also. In attacking areas, it could be four of any number with flexible options positioned throughout the squad but away from home in a tough atmosphere, top scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has to play. Lacazette looks much nearer full fitness these days and he too should play to create havoc among West Ham's leaky back line. His unselfish movement and forward running is unmatched by anyone in the squad so his inclusion is imperative to free up PEA from the left. Mesut Ozil returned to full training earlier this week and he may come into the XI to provide that creative spark that has been missing in league games of late. Whilst he was out, Emery was looking to Ramsey to take on the creative mantle but it wasn't that successful so for me, Ozil should return. Torreira and Xhaka provide the protection Ozil really needs to shine, and although he dips in a out of games, when he's in it's world class. We saw a pass not too long ago from right centre to deep wide left from Ozil to Kolasinac that wowed everyone. It was unreal, and we've seen over the years that he's more than capable, he just needs the platform to shine. An engine room with Torreira in it sniffing out danger and covering every man and his dog in the process is just what he needs.
Long term absentees Danny Welbeck and Rob Holding remain out whilst mid-term absentee Henrikh Mkhitaryan is rehabbing at present with a view for a February return to training after a metatarsal injury.
Including one very recent addition, West Ham now have four former Gunners in the squad. The newly signed free agent Samir Nasri joins Jack Wilshere, Lucas Perez and keeper Lukasz Fabianski in the Hammers' ranks, and we're likely to see three tomorrow with only Jack Wilshere absent through injury. Central defender Fabian Balbuena is unavailable for this game as are a few longer term absentees including forwards Javier Hernandez and Andriy Yarmolenko. But with Andy Carroll now fit again, alongside other big boys Michail Antonio, Issa Diop and Declan Rice, set pieces, throw ins and long balls are likely to be West Ham's route of attack. An Arsenal back three is the best way to safely handle this style as it will allow two centre backs to jointly handle Andy Carroll, who at times in the past must have relished playing Wenger's weak defence. Unai Emery's changes are gradually coming into play, tomorrow is yet another test of tactics and style that the Head Coach needs to overcome. Nothing but all three points will do.
Expected lineup:
GK: Bernd Leno
CB: Shkodran Mustafi
CB: Sokratis
CB: Nacho Monreal
RWB: Hector Bellerin
CM: Granit Xhaka
CM: Lucas Torreira
LWB: Sead Kolasinac
RAM: Mesut Ozil
LAM: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
ST: Alex Lacazette
Prediction: 4-2 to the Gunners. An attacking Arsenal team should score plenty with West Ham's defence as weak as ours of late but Andy Carroll and co are likely to cause some real issues down the other end too, resulting in a fairly high scoreline.
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