Arteta confirms Arsenal star will miss West Ham and might not play again this season

Arsenal will be minus a key star for their trip to West Ham this afternoon, as confirmed by manager Mikel Arteta.

Arsenal braced for crucial London derby against West Ham

The context around Sunday’s game is razor-sharp.

Arsenal lead the Premier League with three games remaining, and a victory at the London Stadium would leave Arteta firmly in the driving seat heading into their final two fixtures — against Burnley and Crystal Palace — to end the club’s 22-year wait for the title.

City’s slip-up against Everton has handed Arsenal back control of their own destiny, though City’s game in hand means Arteta’s side cannot afford complacency.

The Sky Blues also kept pressure on Arteta via a hard-fought 3-0 win at home to Brentford on Saturday.

That said, Arsenal have won their last two Premier League matches without conceding, beating Newcastle 1-0 and Fulham 3-0, and the confidence gained from reaching the Champions League final with Tuesday’s victory over Atlético Madrid is palpable throughout the club.

West Ham find themselves back in the Premier League’s bottom three following their 3-0 defeat at Brentford last weekend, a result that ended a three-game unbeaten run and left Nuno Espírito Santo’s side in desperate need of a shock today.

Spurs are just one point above them, and with both sides still playing for their survival, nothing is settled yet.

The Hammers’ cause is not helped by a wretched record against London rivals this season — they have lost all five of their home London derby fixtures in the Premier League this campaign, a damning statistic heading into arguably their most important game of the year.

Arsenal won the reverse fixture 2-0 back in October and have won their last two trips to the London Stadium, scoring eleven goals in the process.

Set pieces loom as a key battleground.

Arsenal have scored 27 Premier League goals from set pieces this season — more than any other club — including 17 from corners alone, the most any side has managed in a single Premier League campaign.

West Ham’s vulnerability at corners has been one of the more pronounced weaknesses identified by analysts across the season, and Arteta will be acutely aware of the opportunity it presents.

Arsenal without Jurrien Timber who might not play again this season

Against that backdrop, the confirmation that Jurrien Timber remains unavailable is a frustration Arteta could have done without.

Speaking at his pre-match press conference, the Arsenal manager was blunt when asked about the Dutchman’s playing prospects this afternoon.

Pressed further on whether Timber could play any part in the remaining weeks of the season, Arteta wasn’t overly optimistic.

The same update applied to Mikel Merino, who has also been working his way back from injury.

Both players have played prominent roles during Arsenal’s title push — Timber as a versatile and reliable presence across the backline, Merino as a goalscorer — but Arsenal have coped well without them recently.

Timber in particular is someone who Arsenal insiders view as “one of the best in the world in his role“, so Arteta will be hoping he can indeed make a last-gasp contribution against Burnley or Palace.

Ray Parlour also labelled the 24-year-old — who has racked up 11 goal contributions from right-back across 43 appearances in all competitions this season — as one of Arsenal’s best players of 2025/26.

Viktor Gyokeres has scored nine goals in his last 12 Premier League appearances, and with Bukayo Saka carrying an exceptional record against West Ham throughout his career, Arteta retains plenty of firepower even without his two injured men.

The title is in Arsenal’s hands, today is where they can make it feel truly real.