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Report: Fornals an Injury Doubt for Arsenal Clash

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Fresh fears have emerged over the availability of Pablo Fornals to face Arsenal at the London Stadium on Sunday.

The Gunners travel from north to east London at the weekend and may have been handed a boost to their prospects if West Ham are to be without the former Villareal playmaker.

According to Claret & Hugh, Fornals will need to undergo a late fitness test ahead of the Arsenal clash. The midfielder sustained a knock against Leeds and may be suffering from a minor groin injury as a result.

The 25-year-old’s injury was deemed debilitating enough that he missed the 1-0 defeat against Manchester United, though C&H caveat their claim be noting that ‘there’s still every chance he could make the squad’.

However, with West Ham firmly front-and-centre in the race for European football next season the medical team at the London Stadium are said to be particularly risk-averse towards giving the all-clear to any players prematurely.

C&H name Mark Noble, Manuel Lanzini and Said Benrahma as the likely options to fill the void left by Fornals, noting bright sparks against United for the latter duo.

Opinion

A cautious and conservative approach towards fielding Fornals is a sensible one in this instance.

Aside from the aforementioned options, the likes of Jesse Lingard remaining available too means that David Moyes is hardly short of capable creative sparks to light up the midfield with dynamic, incisive play.

Regardless, Moyes will nonetheless be disappointed to not have a full range of options available to him – even if Fornals’ absence does not entirely derail his plans.

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