Olivier Giroud will be desperate to start against West Ham on Wednesday night given his impressive record against the Hammers.

Giroud netted an 88th-minute equaliser against Southampton at the weekend and will therefore have his fingers – and potentially toes – crossed that Arsene Wenger will give him the nod mid-week.

In eight appearances against West Ham, the 31-year-old has scored six goals and provided three assists.

What’s more, Arsenal have only lost once against the Hammers with the Frenchman on the pitch.

However, given the fact that Giroud hasn’t made a single Premier League start this season, it’s not looking likely that he’ll be in Wenger’s XI. The big guy’s role is as a super-sub and, whether he likes that or not, that appears to be where the boss intends to keep him.

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(BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

If you look at the other options, Alexandre Lacazette, despite being unable to get a full game since the beginning of the season, will most likely start. And the boss seems allergic to benching Alexis Sanchez now, so I don’t see the 28-year-old being dropped despite giving the ball away 32 times at St. Mary’s on Sunday.

Giroud’s is a terrific target man so I would personally start Laca instead of Alexis with the big guy up front. However, the chances of this don’t seem high.

Who knows? Perhaps we’ll see a slightly rotated starting XI due to the congested fixture list.