West Ham United play host to Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday evening.
The Premier League clash will be a vitally important one for both West Ham and Arsenal, but for very different reasons.
Julen Lopetegui finally got a tune out of his Hammers side against Newcastle on Monday night, and a win against the Gunners could see us climb inside the top 10.
Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta’s side desperately need all three points in order to remain within touching distance of Liverpool.
Lopetegui allegedly faced the sack before the win over Newcastle, but the mood has shifted drastically after the 2-0 victory.
Things are looking up for the Hammers, and we are now heading into the Arsenal clash full of hope rather than trepidation.
The West Ham players put in a top class performance against Newcastle.
In doing so, they made it very clear that they are fully behind the Hammers head coach.
Now we need to start seeing the levels they showed against the Toon on a consistent basis.
However, Arsenal will represent a completely different challenge for us this weekend, and we could be missing a key player.
Blow for West Ham with key player a doubt for Arsenal
The London Stadium should be absolutely bouncing this weekend for the visit of the Gunners.
Lopetegui and his Hammers players will be desperate for another win, in order to climb the Premier League table.
However, we definitely will have our work cut-out with Arsenal coming to town.
Arteta’s men looked in fine form during their 5-1 win away in the Champions League at Sporting earlier this week.
And now it seems like Lopetegui could be missing one of his key players.
The Hammers will already be without Niclas Fullkrug and Mohammed Kudus for the Arsenal game.
Now the Hammers may have to deal with another potential absentee.
According to Premier Injuries, West Ham centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo has a 50% chance of facing the Gunners on Saturday.
The Frenchman seems to be slowly getting up to speed with English football, and despite the fact that he has made a few mistakes, there’s definitely a top-class player in there.
And let’s face it, he’s a lot better than Konstantinos Mavropanos!
On Monday it was suggested that Todibo was suffering with a stomach issue, in other words – a bout of illness.
He was replaced by Mavropanos in the second-half, and the Greek looked very shaky indeed.
Hopefully Jean-Clair Todibo shakes off whatever is bothering him in time for the West Ham vs Arsenal clash.
We need the 24-year-old to be on top form against the Gunners.
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