Arsenal have been handed a potential Champions League boost ahead of their clash with West Ham as the Hammers suffered a defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
The top four race in the Premier League is going down to the wire with the Gunners two points ahead of their city rivals Tottenham. Manchester United are five points behind after their 1-1 draw against Chelsea, but the north London clubs have two games in hand over Ralf Rangnick's men.
West Ham were in the hunt for the majority of the season but have fallen away towards the latter stages. They are still vying for a Europa League spot, however, and this weekend could prove pivotal as Arsenal comes up against David Moyes' side on Super Sunday.
But the Hammers' priorities could lie elsewhere however with the second leg of their Europa League semi-final clash with Frankfurt scheduled on Thursday. And they have it all to do after a 2-1 first-leg defeat at the London Stadium as the Germans took the initiative in the tie.
This could work out in Arsenal's favour as Moyes could be forced to rest some of his keys stars like Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen and Declan Rice as winning the Europa League and qualifying for the Champions League, as a result, has to be their main focus given their current position in the league.
Three points for Mikel Arteta's men would be huge with only five games left of the season as Spurs are running out of games to catch them.
Arsenal might have Thomas Partey back in action which would be another huge positive as the former Atletico Madrid man hinted he could be fit for the run-in.
The Ghanaian midfielder lasted only 75 minutes at Selhurst Park before being withdrawn with a thigh injury against Crystal Palace and has been ruled out since.
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Arteta insinuated that Partey, along with Kieran Tierney, could be restricted to the sidelines for the remainder of the campaign. Speaking after the Palace thumping, he said: “It’s a little bit ambiguous but he has a significant injury and we’ll have to keep assessing him.
"He will be [out] for some weeks. It could be [that he can play again this season] but it could not be the case, because it’s an area where he had a previous injury as well and he felt it straightaway. He’s not fit.”
Partey might have inadvertently suggested that he could actually return before the end of the season, however, as the midfielder shared a video of him running on a treadmill on his Instagram.
