Arsenal team news: Mesut Ozil to miss West Ham clash, Aaron Ramsey expected to start

Arsenal Team News: Mesut Ozil is expected to miss Arsenal's crunch clash with West Ham (Image: GETTY)

MESUT OZIL is expected to miss Arsenal’s crunch clash with West Ham.

Arsenal train ahead of West Ham Premier League clash

Arsenal welcome Manuel Pellegrini’s side to the Emirates this afternoon in what will be their third league game of the new season.

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Unai Emery’s troops have yet to pick up a point this campaign, suffering back-to-back losses to Manchester City and Chelsea.

And it seems they’ll have to register their first competitive win of Emery era without their talismanic playmaker.

Ozil missed the Gunners’ training session at the Emirates yesterday morning, an absence which is said to be down to illness.

Should the Germany international be out of today’s game, Emery could hand a start to contract rebel Aaron Ramsey.

Ramsey started on the bench for Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat to Chelsea last weekend, a decision which appeared to be a consequence for his angry reaction to being substituted in the opening-day loss to Manchester City.

The Wales international’s current deal with the north Londoners runs out at the end of the season, which has prompted fears the 27-year-old could leave the club for free.

Emery isn’t concerned with the former Cardiff midfielder’s contract situation and has urged him not to focus on it either.

Arsenal Team News: Aaron Ramsey is expected to start ahead of Mesut Ozil (Image: GETTY)

Ozil missed the Gunners’ training session at the Emirates yesterday morning

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“I spoke with Ramsey last week and told him, ‘I want you focused only on training and on the match, to show the capacity to help the team,'" the Spaniard said.

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“The contract is something for his agent and the club to sort out.

“But what I need is the player’s focus only on his performance each day in training or during the match.

“I spoke with him last week. But now I am only thinking about the match against West Ham and I need the player to be focused only on Saturday.”

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Arsenal Team News: Aaron Ramsey's future at Arsenal is currently up in the air (Image: GETTY)

Defeat to West Ham will see Arsenal have made their worst start to a Premier League season.

Emery is well aware of the effect a third defeat on the spin will have on his side’s title hopes and admits it’s imperative they defeat their London rivals.

“In our process, we are going 38 matches [in total] against all the teams. Whether you are playing against Manchester City, it’s the same as if you’re playing against West Ham on Saturday,” the former Sevilla and Paris Saint-Germain boss said.

“There are three points on this game. It’s clear that every game demands different things tactically.

Arsenal Team News: Arsenal have yet to win a competitive game under Unai Emery (Image: GETTY)

Emery has inherited a ‘nightmare’ in Ozil says pundit

“After the first two matches, we have two defeats and we need to win this match against West Ham.

“The difficulty is in this game because West Ham are a good team with good players and a good coach.

“They know the Premier League very well and they have a lot of new players. We are thinking in our way and about our work to create our ideas and our system on Saturday with our supporters at the Emirates.

“I think it’s very important to show them a better performance than in the two first matches. We are preparing well, I am feeling well when I look at the players in training every day."

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