Arsenal have already benefitted from one London derby this week and there could be even more good news with Chelsea in action against West Ham United this afternoon (Sunday). With the Gunners following up their midweek win at Stamford Bridge by beating Manchester United just over 24 hours ago, they are back in control of the top-four race having overtaken Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League table as Antonio Conte’s could only draw with Brentford.
David Moyes said: “We’re trying to qualify for Europe through our league position and we also know there’s a huge prize if we can get through in Europe. We’re trying to not throw everything into one basket, we’re trying to spread ourselves as thin as we can. It’s not been easy, but there is a month to go in the season and I remember saying we wanted to be in Europe after Christmas time. We’re now in the verge of coming into May and we’re still in Europe, and that tells you we’re in a really good position. In the main, if you look at how we’ve done in the league with the things we’ve had, we’ve done really, really well.”
Although following Moyes’ West Ham team selection against Chelsea, it would appear that the Scotsman has performed somewhat of a U-turn by resting Declan Rice, Jarrod Bowen and Michail Antonio – presumably with the Frankfurt game in mind – which would suggest the Europa League is their main focus.