Arsenal handed major boost ahead of West Ham clash

What a difference a week makes. Arsenal went from turgid turnouts that risked losing European football entirely to beating Chelsea and Manchester United within four days and moving two points clear in fourth.

Football works in mysterious ways.

Such was the level of performance that it wasn’t inconceivable that Arsenal wouldn’t win another game for the rest of the season. They couldn’t score, defend for 90 minutes, find the right system or personnel, nor could they grind out results against sides struggling for form.

Having beaten Manchester United 3-1 on Saturday, off the back of a 4-2 midweek win over Chelsea, suddenly they’re right back in the mix. Losing three on the spin in arguably the easiest part of the final run-in, they’ve just overcome possibly the toughest.

Arsenal handed major boost ahead of West Ham clash with Craig Dawson red card meaning Europa League semi-finalists have no central defenders

Following Spurs only mustering a draw away at Brentford, the top four race has undergone yet another dramatic twist.

But it’s far from over.

As vital was wins over Top Six rivals Chelsea and United were, they’re followed up with another European chasing showdown away at West Ham on Sunday. There is no understating the difficulty of the Gunners’ fixture list.

On the quest to find encouragement, however, there is no greater helping hand than the circumstances surrounding West Ham. Already their priorities were laid out when they faced Chelsea on Sunday, with David Moyes making six changes to his starting lineup ahead of the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.

The timing of their European venture is somewhat helpful.

They will host Arsenal either side of taking on Eintracht Frankfurt, therefore the chance of changes like the ones seen at Stamford Bridge are very high. In an ideal world, any tight scoreline in their first leg, which is at home, will do Arsenal wonders. Even a narrow 1-0 defeat would be welcomed so long as the tie is still on the balance heading into the reverse fixture in Germany.

It actually gets better.

Losing 1-0 to Chelsea via a late Christian Pulisic strike, the Blues had previoulsy been granted the chance to go ahead from the penalty spot five minutes earlier when Craig Dawson was found guilt of hauling down Romelu Lukaku in the area. Originally handed a yellow card, a VAR review upgraded that to a red.

He is their only central defender available.

Their three other senior options – Issa Diop, Angelo Ogbonna & Kurt Zouma – are injured, and now having lost Dawson they head into the weekend having to seriously reshuffle their pack. Declan Rice could fill in, but moving him out on midfield is a huge loss for the Hammers irrespective of his ability to fill in at centre-back.

Even if the Hammers are still trying to secure a top six spot in the Premier League, understandably their eggs are being placed in the Europa League basket. It’s a momentous occasion for them.

Far from meaning the three points are wrapped up, this is a significant opening for Arsenal to maintain their solid run and keep pushing for fourth spot. They’ve been dealt the cards and now they have to play them.