Arsenal won 2-0 away at Leicester City this weekend. Mikel Merino played as a striker and scored both goals.
The Gunners remain in 2nd place in the Premier League table as they look to chase down Liverpool at the summit. Mikel Arteta’s side have lost only two of their 25 fixtures so far this season.
As for West Ham, they lost 1-0 at home to Brentford. Kevin Schade scored an early goal for the Bees and the Hammers weren’t able to find an equaliser.
Arsenal injury news.
Arsenal will be without attacker Kai Havertz for the rest of this campaign following his thigh injury. Arteta has said: ‘We were having a great camp in Dubai recharging, training, having some time off and connecting again with nature in a different environment, and then the injury happened in a very unexpected way.
Striker Gabriel Jesus is also sidelined on a long-term basis. The Brazilian won’t be seen until later this year which isn’t ideal.
Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka is in the treatment room until mid-March at least. His head coach has said: “It’s too early; he’s in an early stage of the rehab, so when we get a little bit closer, and he starts to do more demanding stuff and has more load, we will see where he is. There’s no setback; he’s fine.”
Gabriel Martinelli and Takehiro Tomiyasu will need to be assessed. It remains to be seen exactly when the pair will be back available at this stage.
West Ham injury news
Potter is hoping for better luck with strikers at West Ham
Michail Antonio is unavailable for West Ham after suffering an injury in a car crash. He is currently back in the gym but is yet to be known when he will be fit again to play and his club will take their time with him.
Crysencio Summerville is out with a thigh injury and is not ready to play again just yet. He made the move down to London last summer after catching the eye in the Championship with Leeds United.
Graham Potter shared this update regarding his condition recently: “Summerville has had a setback, so we’re looking after the international break for him. He just felt something, which is disappointing.”
The Hammers will need to make checks on Vladimir Coufal after he missed out against Brentford. Niclas Fullkrug is injured and has endured a tough first year in England.
Following their defeat to the Bees, Potter said: “The first half was not the performance we want at all. The goal affects the performance too much. We need to learn a lot from that. I was really pleased with the response of the players in the second half when we really pushed. We were a lot more like how we want to be.
I thought the three [Evan Ferguson, James Ward-Prowse and Ollie Scarles] had a positive impact and changed the dynamic of the team. You can see what he [Ferguson] will bring to the team. There are positives there from the second half. We have to move fast and we have to move forward.”
