Arsenal vs West Ham: 5 key players as health returns

2. Alex Iwobi

Don’t look now, but in his past five matches (316 minutes), Alex Iwobi has put up two goals and two assists. Which, if you want to get more into the math, equates to a goal contribution every 79 minutes.

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Needless to say, if you’re contributing to a goal every 79 minutes, that means that you have become a pretty important part of the team. Technically speaking, if you last the full 90, you should, at some point, have either scored or assisted. That is where we currently are with Alex Iwobi, the man we have so much faith in.

He has, yet again, risen up the creative totem pole and should stand ahead of Ozil and Mkhitaryan (when healthy). Meaning that he should be getting the starts until he proves otherwise.

He’s even been a convincing winger lately, utilizing speed and strength and even that often enigmatic dribbling, to be a top-tier attacking option. He is combining so well with Kolasinac when possible and, as has become the theme, makes full use of the width of the pitch.

If he can keep that up against West Ham, he moves that much closer to being considered reliable. His numbers are starting to look pretty good this year, which is what we’ve been waiting for. There’s still a long way to go, but he’s in peak form right now.

Finally, No. 1.