Mikel Arteta explains Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko Arsenal absence amid quintuple blow

Arsenal are without Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Jorginho and Emile Smith Rowe for this afternoon's Premier League clash with West Ham United.

Jesus missed the 3-1 win over Liverpool last time out after it was revealed he had been playing with fluid in his knee against Nottingham Forest. Zinchenko was also left out of the squad after being replaced at half-time last week.

Tomiyasu was expected to return to the Gunners' squad after returning from the AFC Asian Cup with Japan. The full-back hasn't featured for Arteta's men since the defeat to Fulham.

In Smith Rowe's case, the playmaker was an unused substitute in the win over Liverpool after earning plaudits for his display in the victory over Forest.

Midfielder Jorginho also dropped to the bench despite starting and impressing against Liverpool.Jakub Kiwior replaced Zinchenko at left-back with Leandro Trossard getting the nod ahead of Jorginho, with Kai Havertz dropping back into midfield.

Speaking to Sky Sports before the game, Arteta said: «Alex is not fit, Jorgi hasn't trained almost all week as he's been carrying an issue and it took him a while to recover on top of that.

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»Gab [Jesus] is not available in the squad and Emile turned his ankle in training so he's not fit to play."

He added on Jorginho: «It's been going on for a while and obviously he aggravated it playing 96 minutes at that level after a while. But the effort that he put in was incredible. He wanted to be here again today to support the team so that's the spirit of Jorgi.»

The quintuple injury update means