Key West Ham star suffers ankle injury ahead of Arsenal game | OneFootball

West Ham’s preparations for their clash against Arsenal have been rocked by Lucas Paquetá’s ankle injury, leaving Graham Potter’s side sweating on his availability.

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Lucas Paquetá has suffered an ankle injury in training, throwing West Ham’s preparations for their visit to Arsenal into disarray ahead of Saturday’s pivotal Premier League fixture at the Emirates Stadium.

The Brazilian midfielder was reportedly devastated after being forced to withdraw early from a session at the London Stadium on Tuesday, leaving Graham Potter and his medical staff facing an anxious wait to determine the severity of the setback.

Paquetá had just returned from a minor knock to play the full 90 minutes in West Ham’s 1-0 defeat to Brentford last weekend.

With Carlos Soler the most likely to step in should Paquetá be ruled out, West Ham will be desperate for their talismanic playmaker to recover in time. The Brazilian, who joined the club for over £50 million from Lyon in 2020, has been instrumental in midfield, contributing 18 goals across 110 appearances for the Hammers.

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The stakes for Saturday’s showdown couldn’t be higher as Arsenal aim to keep pace with Liverpool in the Premier League. Arsenal have dominated this fixture historically, winning 37 Premier League encounters against West Ham, a tally only surpassed by their 38 victories over Everton. The Hammers, meanwhile, have suffered more defeats at the hands of Arsenal than against any other club.

However, West Ham won this fixture 2-0 last season, and history suggests they are capable of repeating the feat, especially given Arsenal’s injury problems in attack. The last time West Ham won consecutive away games against Arsenal was in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons, becoming the final side to beat the Gunners at Highbury before becoming the first to defeat them at the Emirates Stadium.

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For Mikel Arteta’s men, there is the tantalising possibility of rewriting history in another way. They have battered West Ham 6-0 and 5-2 in their last two Premier League meetings. The only side to have ever scored five or more goals against the same opponent in three consecutive matches in the competition is Liverpool, who achieved the feat against Norwich City between 2012 and 2013.

Should Arsenal somehow replicate such an unlikely attacking masterclass, they would match another historic milestone: the only other time they have scored five or more goals in three consecutive league matches against a single team was against Middlesbrough between 1930 and 1932.

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While West Ham sweat over Paquetá’s availability, Arsenal are also grappling with their own injury concerns. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli are not expected to return until April. Meanwhile, Takehiro Tomiyasu, who recently confirmed he has undergone knee surgery, is almost certainly ruled out for the remainder of the season.

Further complicating Arteta’s squad selection, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are also out for the rest of the season, leaving the Gunners significantly depleted as they navigate a critical run of fixtures in both the Premier League and Champions League.

West Ham will also be without Michail Antonio, Crysencio Summerville, and Niclas Fullkrug while Vladimir Coufal is being assessed and only rated at 25% to play.