Mikel Merino will hope his two-goal salvo last time out is enough to earn a start for Arsenal for today’s visit of West Ham in the Premier League.
Merino excelled off the bench last week as an emergency striker and scored twice as Arsenal beat Leicester 2-0 at the King Power StadiumThe Gunners have just three fit forwards at the moment in Ethan Nwaneri, Leandro Trossard and Raheem Sterling – which is why Merino played as a No9.
The midfielder could get another go there, possibly from the start, when Arsenal host West Ham this afternoon.
Sterling would be the most likely of Arsenal’s three forwards to lose his place after struggling in the win at Leicester.
The winger was taken off for Merino with just over 20 minutes to go and he has not scored since September.
Mikel Arteta has far more options in defence, although it was confirmed this week that Takehiro Tomiyasu will miss the rest of the season following knee surgery.
Ben White is now back fit and he was on the bench for last week’s win at Leicester. The right-back did not come on, but will hope to do so against West Ham.
Riccardo Calafiori is fighting with Myles Lewis-Skelly for the left-back spot but, ahead of the defence, the midfield is settled.
Thomas Partey should start as the No6 this weekend, with Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard ahead of him.
Arsenal likely XI (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Trossard, Sterling
Injured: Havertz (hamstring), Jesus (knee), Martinelli (hamstring), Saka (hamstring), Tomiyasu (knee)
Arsenal squad from: Neto, Raya, Setford; Calafiori, Gabriel, Kacurri, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly, Saliba, Tierney, Timber, Zinchenko; Jorginho, Merino, Nwaneri, Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Sterling and Trossard.
