Arsenal‘s post-Arsene Wenger era is off to the worse possible start as they failed to pick up any points from their first couple of games against Manchester City and Chelsea. The pressure does not ease off yet as the Gunners will now welcome Manuel Pellegrini’s West Ham United’s in a London Derby this weekend.
The Hammers have found the back of the net just once this season and have lost both their opening games, like Arsenal and will hope to kick-start their campaign against Unai Emery’s struggling side.
The Gunners conceded thrice against Chelsea but also scored twice, which will be the real issue for the visitors. Emery has options for most roles in his first team and will have to make sure that he has the right balance to his side, to be able to fend off this challenge from local rivals.
Emery is the first Arsenal manager in over three decades to lose both of his first games in charge at the club and he will be desperate to change it this weekend. Here is the predicted lineup he might field for this tie:
Arsenal – Team News
In early team news, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Sead Kolasinac, Laurent Koscielny and Carl Jenkinson remain long-term absentees and will be the only players who will be missing from the squad for this weekend.
Predicted Arsenal lineup (4-2-3-1)
Defence
Petr Cech has had his nervous moments already this season, with a passing accuracy of just 72%. However, he has made seven saves in total this season and will hope that he will not have much to do this weekend.
Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastathopoulos have 25 clearances between them in the first two games, which is not Emery’s way. They will have to be more confident and should deal with the threat of Marko Arnautovic if Arsenal are to win the game.
With seven interceptions and three tackles in the last two games, Hector Bellerin remains the best choice for Emery at right-back while Nacho Monreal remains the only option for the manager at left-back.
Midfield
Granit Xhaka has been really poor at the start of this season, registering just one tackle and no interceptions in a no.6 role. However, he is expected to keep his place in the side, alongside young Matteo Guendouzi, who, in stark contrast, averages four tackles, 4.5 interceptions and 1.5 dribbles per game.
Attack
With just two key passes in two games, Mesut Ozil is yet to have an impact on Emery’s system and this game is nicely set up for him. He will play in a no.10 role alongside Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the wing, who already has a goal and an assist this season, to add to seven key passes.
Alex Iwobi has a goal and four key passes to his name so far this season and will play on the left wing while Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, who is yet to score, with five shots in two games, will continue to bench Alexandre Lacazette, leading the attacking line.
Here is how they might line up
Stat Credit: Whoscored.com
