Arsenal face West Ham United at the London Stadium on Saturday, as they push to get back into the Premier League’s top four.

Tottenham Hotspur play Manchester United at the weekend, so Arsenal have the opportunity to either catch up a bit or leave United further behind with a win. The Gunners also don’t want to fall too far behind Chelsea ahead of the match between the two next week.

Most of Unai Emery’s squad have had a week’s rest since the Blackpool game, and some of them have had even more. The likes of Granit Xhaka, Bernd Leno and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang didn’t even travel to Blackpool, so they’ve had a week and a half without a game.

Additionally, six players have returned to full training after injury this week. For once, Emery has a large number of options at his disposal. Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the fixture.

Goalkeeper and Defence

Against Fulham, Arsenal started a back-three, but the choice of formation was largely because of a few injuries and absences, most notably Hector Bellerin, Lucas Torreira (rested) and Mesut Özil.

Unai Emery reverted to a back-four in the second half of that match, as well as against Blackpool, so we expect him to do the same against West Ham.

Hector Bellerin should come straight back into the team after his return to full training. There’s no doubt he’s been one of Arsenal’s top performers this season, whilst Stephan Lichtsteiner is on a poor run of form and Ainsley Maitland-Niles looks better as a wing-back.

In the middle, Sokratis Papastathopoulos should keep his place, so the question is just which of the three centre-backs returning from injury will partner him (four if you include Nacho Monreal).

Konstantinos Mavropanos seems unlikely to be thrown in after so many months out. Shkodran Mustafi seems to be suffering from a recurring injury, after being subbed off early in all three of his recent starts, so he’ll probably be eased back in from the bench. Laurent Koscielny makes the most sense to start this one.

On the left, Sead Kolasinac is in good form, so he should keep his place. However, it’s great to have Monreal back as an alternative option, and if all goes well he’ll probably come on later in the game to give Kolasinac some rest.

In goal, Bernd Leno should keep his place after Petr Cech’s start in the FA Cup.

Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

Midfield

Lucas Torreira had half the match off against Fulham, and although he made the trip to Blackpool, he didn’t make an appearance in the match. Meanwhile, Granit Xhaka didn’t even travel with the team. As a result, both should be rested and raring to go this weekend.

The pair have only failed to appear in one Premier League match combined this season, and it was through Xhaka’s suspension. It seems very unlikely either of them will be dropped for this game.

As for the third midfield spot, Matteo Guendouzi seems to be the most likely option. Like Torreira, he travelled to Blackpool but didn’t come off the bench. He’s played the full 90 minutes in all but one of Arsenal’s last seven league games, and Emery doesn’t seem to consider Aaron Ramsey or Mohamed Elneny as real alternatives in the position.

Joe Willock played well against Blackpool, but he’s yet to even appear from the bench in the league this season.

Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

Forwards

In the front three, we expect Arsenal to start a strike partnership, with a number 10 in behind. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang got a rest against Blackpool, and Alexandre Lacazette only made a cameo appearance, so both should be ready to start this weekend.

There’s been a statistic going around about how much better Arsenal’s win percentage is when the Frenchman starts (62%) vs when he doesn’t (35%), and that’s no coincidence. The team are clearly better when Lacazette is involved, so he should start alongside the Premier League’s top scorer.

Behind them, Mesut Özil is back from injury, so he should be involved. Aaron Ramsey is an alternative option, but it still seems like he’s a backup option in Emery’s eyes, rather than a starter, particularly in this kind of game.

Click ‘Next’ for the full Predicted Starting XI

Predicted Starting XI