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Football London
Football London
Sport
Aaron Catterson-Reid

Arsenal handed major top-four boost ahead of crucial West Ham Premier League clash

Arsenal have been handed a huge boost in their pursuit of UEFA Champions League qualification.

The Gunners are currently locked in a thrilling race for fourth place with local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, who they currently sit two points above following back-to-back victories against Chelsea and Manchester United. Next up for Mikel Arteta's side is a trip to east London to face off against West Ham United.

Sunday's highly-anticipated Premier League clash falls in between the two legs of the Hammers' Europa League semi-finals against Frankfurt, which could potentially mean David Moyes opts to rest some of his players against Arsenal. Similarly, defender Craig Dawson received a red card during his side's 1-0 defeat against Chelsea, meaning Moyes currently has no recognised centre-backs available for the match against the Gunners.

READ MORE HERE: Gabriel Jesus breaks silence on Manchester City future amid Arsenal transfer interest

Angelo Ogbonna, Issa Diop and Kurt Zouma are all currently sidelined through injuries, with midfielder Declan Rice a potential option for Moyes. "Declan has played [at centre-back] before and would give us a different dimension," the former Manchester United boss said when quizzed about the ongoing defender crisis.

"We’ve got that possibility.” Still, the Scottish coach is relatively upbeat about his side's squad, adding: "All clubs get injuries at this time of the season.

"I've got to juggle and find a way of getting something which gives us a defensive set-up. We wouldn't want it any other way.

"We're coming up to the end of April, we're still in Europe and we could make Europe again through our league position."

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