West Ham’s Cheikhou Kouyate received a red card during the Hammers’ 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace and will, therefore, miss the Arsenal game.
The midfielder slid in to tackle Dwight Gayle and was shown a red by referee Mark Clattenburg. By the looks of Twitter, hardly anyone seems to believe it was justified and West Ham’s chairman, David Gold, has confirmed that the east London club will be appealing the decision.
Disappointing decision by Mark Clattenburg to red card Kouyate which we will be appealing. We must give referee's more TV replay help. dg
— David Gold (@davidgold) April 2, 2016
If the card still stands after the appeal, this means the 26-year-old will miss out on West Ham’s match against Arsenal.
Kouyate is a regular starter for the Hammers, having made 26 Premier League appearances so far, and will, therefore, be a loss should his red card stand. From an Arsenal point of view, it should give us a little bit more freedom in our attack, which appears to be all we need right now. Saying this, if we really want to challenge for the title, we should be beating West Ham anyway.