Arsenal fans insist Gabriel Martinelli starts against West Ham

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Arsenal host London rivals West Ham on Saturday afternoon in the Premier League – and some of the club’s supporters on Twitter are demanding that Gabriel Martinelli is named in the starting XI.

The Gunners welcome West Ham to the Emirates Stadium for a league fixture and would surely love a repeat of the 3-1 scoreline they inflicted on them away from home back in December.

Mikel Arteta’s side go into the contest off the back of two consecutive league wins and they are trying to close the eight-point gap in the table from them in 10th to fourth-placed Chelsea.

The North London outfit have had the disappointment of a Europa League exit at the hands of Olympiacos, which means they need a colossal push in the remaining 11 league games to sneak into the Champions league for next year.

Meanwhile, weekend’s opponents West Ham are only outside the bottom three on goal difference and they are desperate for points in their relegation scrap.

A selection of Arsenal supporters on social media have stated that Martinelli needs to be involved from the start on Saturday.

The Brazilian attacker played 90 minutes in the FA Cup fifth round win over Portsmouth on Monday night, but that was just his second start in the last five games across all competitions.

He is a major talent that has dazzled during his first season at the club and has 10 goals in 26 senior games across all competitions.

The 18-year-old scored in the reverse fixture this season against West Ham too, but there is stiff competition in the squad for manager Mikel Arteta to pick from.

Here are some Arsenal fans on Martinelli: