Arteta counts on fresh legs and familiar faces for West Ham derby

Mikel Arteta will walk into the London Stadium on Sunday knowing one thing at least is clear: the group that dragged Arsenal past Atletico Madrid in a draining Champions League semi-final is ready to go again.

Every player involved in Tuesday’s seismic win has been passed fit for the London derby against West Ham United. At this stage of the season, that alone feels like a small victory.

Two absentees, though, continue to cast a shadow over an otherwise healthy squad.

Merino and Timber still stuck on the sidelines

Mikel Merino and Jurrien Timber will not make it. Not this weekend, and their hopes of featuring at all before the season closes are hanging by a thread.

“No chance for the weekend,” Arteta said, bluntly, when asked about the pair. The work still in front of them is significant, and the manager made it clear there is no room for setbacks now. If they are to play even a handful of minutes before the campaign is done, everything in their recovery must be “so smooth and quick”.

With Merino, Arsenal always knew they were facing a longer absence. The surprise has been Timber. His lay-off has dragged on far beyond the original expectations, and that has tested everyone involved.

“That’s been probably the most difficult thing to manage with the player, with myself as well,” Arteta admitted. “We didn’t expect it to take so long, and at the moment, he’s not fit to play.”

For a defender whose Arsenal career has barely begun, every missed week stings a little more.

Saka–White axis back in full flow

If Merino and Timber are the frustration, Bukayo Saka and Ben White are the reassurance. Both are available again, both are starting to look like themselves, and their partnership down the right is beginning to hum at exactly the time Arsenal need it most.

Since Saka’s return last month, the understanding between the two England internationals has snapped back into place almost instantly. Overlaps, underlaps, little give-and-go combinations: the patterns that once defined Arsenal’s right flank are returning.

Arteta has noticed it as sharply as anyone in the stands.

When he talks about his “right units”, he points out that the actual time Saka and White have spent together on the pitch this season has been “extremely low” because of various interruptions. Yet years of shared minutes have built an instinct that doesn’t disappear. You can see it in the way they find each other without looking, the way that side of the pitch suddenly feels secure and dangerous at the same time.

“It’s great that they have a really good connection, a really good understanding, they have played many years together and you can sense that and notice that in a really positive way,” Arteta said.

For a team chasing major honours, that kind of familiarity can tilt tight games.

A stronger bench, a bigger chance

Saka and White are not the only returnees. Several players have fought their way back from long spells out, and the effect on the matchday squad is obvious.

Arteta only had to glance at his substitutes against Atletico to understand how far Arsenal have come in 12 months. Quality all over the bench. Options in every line. The contrast with last season, when injuries stripped depth from the squad at the worst possible moment, is stark.

“Very important, it’s great to see,” he said of the returning faces. The manager has been able over the past week to rotate just enough, to keep some legs fresher without losing rhythm. You could feel that extra energy in the closing stages of the semi-final, when Arsenal found a second wind rather than clinging on empty.

From the start of the season, Arteta has repeated the same message: if Arsenal arrive at the decisive weeks with a fit, competitive group, their chances of hitting their targets rise sharply. Now, with West Ham away and a Champions League final on the horizon, he finally has something close to the squad he imagined.

Merino and Timber will watch on, their campaigns stuck in limbo. The rest will step into another high-stakes London derby, knowing that at this stage, freshness, familiarity and a strong bench might be the difference between a memorable run-in and a missed opportunity.