Arsenal will be aiming to end a nine-match winless streak in all competitions when they face West Ham United on the road in Monday night’s Premier League clash.
The Gunners have not tasted any success since the 3-2 comeback win over Vitoria in the Europa League and their wretched run of form has dropped them 10 points behind the top four in the Premier League with a game in hand.
As such, interim boss Freddie Ljungberg needs to find a solution for the time being and it will be interesting to see whether the players are up for it at the London Stadium, where they are winless against the Hammers in two previous attempts.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Predicted Lineup:
Bernd Leno has been impressive in goal throughout the season but he has not received much help from the players ahead of him. The German has already made 66 saves in the Premier League, which remains the highest among the goalkeepers in the division. He is expected to start in goal against the Hammers.
In the defence, Hector Bellerin should keep his place at right-back but we are definitely anticipating a change on the left side of the backline with Kieran Tierney replacing Sead Kolasinac, who barely provided a cross against Brighton in midweek.
At the heart of the defence, David Luiz could get the axe after his poor positioning against Brighton, especially for the second goal, where he was easily beaten by Neal Maupay in the air despite the Frenchman being 18 centimetres shorter than him.
Sokratis equally had a disappointing game but he could keep his position alongside Calum Chambers, particularly with Shkodran Mustafi appearing out of contention under Ljungberg after the display at Norwich.
In the centre of the park, Granit Xhaka should definitely keep his place. The Swiss has performed much better since his return from the cold and he recently came up with a crucial interception to deny Brighton with a clear-cut scoring chance. Alongside him, it could be Matteo Guendouzi getting the nod over Lucas Torreira, who was a little all over the place against Brighton.
In the attack, Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette should keep their places. Joe Willock could be the sole replacement from the previous game where he was struggled to create anything barring the one headed chance where he should have beaten the goalkeeper.
Nicolas Pepe will most likely replace the Gunners graduate. The Ivorian managed more shots than any other Arsenal player (3) against Brighton despite only playing 45 minutes and he should be offered with a chance to impress from the starting lineup.
