Arsenal’s push for a Europa League spot continues as they play host to relegation strugglers Norwich City, who will be aiming to make a last-gasp great escape from the bottom three.
The Gunners have been given a welcome boost, with new right-back Cedric Soares now available for selection for the first time in his Arsenal career.
Lucas Torreira is also in full training and is being assessed ahead of Wednesday’s game after his injury against Portsmouth in the FA Cup. Mesut Ozil and David Luiz are also being assessed after suffering back soreness and a knee injury respectively.
For Norwich, the news is not as positive. Whilst Todd Cantwell is confirmed fit, there are doubts over defender Max Aarons, midfielder Lukas Rupp and young striker Adam Idah, who have picked up calf, hip and thigh injuries respectively. Nevertheless, manager Daniel Farke feels “confident” that all three will be fit to play.
The last meeting between the two teams ended as a 2-2 draw at Carrow Road, however, a win for Norwich would see the Canaries move to within 3 points of 17th placed West Ham, whilst a win for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal would propel them to 7th in the table, above rivals Tottenham Hotspur.
Both teams have had very disappointing seasons by their standards. The Gunners, who were aiming to return to the Champions League for the first time in three seasons, find themselves struggling to finish in a Europa League place, whilst their opponents are the clear favourites to be playing Championship football next season.
Norwich are yet to score in the Premier League since the season resumed, losing all three of their games, however, Farke still remained positive about his team in his press conference saying: “We’re heading in the right direction in terms of the quality of the performance.
“We deserved at least a point from Everton, and against United we were looking like winning the game. If we can keep going with these performances I’m sure we’ll win points in the last few games, hopefully starting tomorrow.”
Arsenal, on the other hand, seem to have recovered to some extent from their poor start to the league’s resumption, winning their last two games, away to Southampton and Sheffield United, and manager Mikel Arteta says the squad are in good spirits going into the game, and they cannot wait to play at home again.
Arteta said: “We had a really difficult start in terms of the fixtures – playing four games away from home – so it was always going to be a challenge. We’re happy to win the last ones and the mood around the camp is much better.
“We really want to play at home. That’s where we enjoy more, but obviously not having the fans within is a tremendous disadvantage. We want to give them happy moments and enjoyment.”
This Premier League clash will kick off on Wednesday at 6pm BST, and will be broadcast on BT Sport for UK viewers.
