West Ham United will be hoping to end their four-match winless rot under new manager Graham Potter when they take on Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Hammers have dropped two places on the Premier League table since the former Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion manager arrived at the London Stadium.
Potter has managed just one win in six games across all competitions as West Ham boss and will be desperate to put points on the board.
He steered the Hammers to an uplifting 3-2 win against Fulham in his Premier League debut but has only picked up one point from a possible 12 since.
A win against Arsenal would improve the mood around the club, but the English manager would have to figure out a winning formula that doesn’t include five key players who will sit out the game due to injuries.
How West Ham could line up vs Arsenal
West Ham’s chances were dealt a massive blow when Potter confirmed their worst fears, ruling out Lucas Paqueta for the upcoming trip to North London.
“It was a training incident,” Potter said. “He [Paqueta] will be missing for the [Arsenal] game and probably Leicester [City] as well. We will take it day-by-day, but I would imagine a week or two he will be away.”
Paqueta joins Crysencio Summerville, Niclas Fullkrug, Michail Antonio, and Vladimir Coufal in the hospital room, leaving Potter with razor-thin attacking options.
Paqueta led the line with aplomb in the 1-0 defeat against Brentford, but his absence paves the way for January addition Evan Ferguson to make his first start since joining on loan from Brighton.
James Ward-Prowse is also in line for his first start since his loan spell at Nottingham Forest was cut short.
The 30-year-old could come in for Tomas Soucek, anchoring the midfield alongside Edson Alvarez.
Potential West Ham line-up:
(4-2-3-1): Alphonse Areola; Emerson Palmieri, Max Kilman, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Aaron Wan-Bissaka; Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse; Carlos Soler, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen; Evan Ferguson.