Nuno Espirito Santo makes brutal move ahead of Arsenal vs West Ham
West Ham are looking to continue their strong start under Nuno Espirito Santo against tough opponents in Arsenal.
James Ward-Prowse was dropped against Everton, and has again been omitted from the side against the Gunners, with his future in East London looking to be coming to an end.
Concerns have been raised about the Hammers’ defending from corners ahead of their game against the set-piece kings, but Nuno has had all week to prepare his side for the clash.
West Ham have developed a strong record against Arsenal, and look in good standing to get a result following a decision from Nuno.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka returns vs Arsenal
Declan Rice will face West Ham for the fifth time since joining Arsenal for £100million in 2023.
The Hammers face a tough task in midfield, going up against their former captain alongside Martin Odegaard.
However, Nuno has put them into a solid position to get a result, with Mateus Fernandes and Soungoutou Magassa starting again in the middle of the park.
Magassa showed his quality against Everton and was deserving of another start after being kept on the bench for so long under Graham Potter.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been absent with a stomach issue in recent weeks, but is set to return against the Gunners.
He will replace summer signing Kyle Walker-Peters, who hardly put a foot wrong against Everton.
Other than that, it’s as you were for the Hammers from their game against the Toffees, with Jarrod Bowen and Crycensio Summerville on either side of Niclas Fullkrug.
Konstantinos Mavropanos also keeps his place, despite losing his man when Michael Keane opened the scoring on Monday evening.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka to add defensive stability vs Arsenal
Walker-Peters struggled to deal with the threat of Jack Grealish in the 1-1 draw with Everton.
With the Hammers set to come up against more tricky wingers in Leandro Trossard and Bukayo Saka, their wing-backs will need to be on top form.
Given his defensive abilities, West Ham fans will be more confident with Wan-Bissaka in their defence.
Equally, with tough deliveries to deal with, Max Kilman and Mavropanos will need to be top draw to deal with the threat of Viktor Gyokeres.
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