Stoke City vs. Arsenal
Venue: Bet365 Stadium
Kick off: 5:30pm
Arsenal take on Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium in today’s late kickoff in the Premier League aiming to maintain their perfect start to the new campaign.
After edging past Leicester City in last weekend’s opener, the Gunners are now hoping to win their first two games of a top-flight season for the first time in seven years.
After three-successive seasons of top-half finishes, Stoke were backed by many last summer to potentially push on under experienced boss Mark Hughes and challenge for a place in a European qualification spot.
A dreadful start to the season put paid to those aspirations, though, as they took just three points from their first seven outings and failed to truly find any real momentum over the next seven months of the season.
Prior to Friday night, Arsenal had lost three and drawn two of their previous six opening-game fixtures, though having put an end to that hoodoo there is now real hope of pushing on and holding down a place near the top.
Since reverting to a three-man backline in April, the Gunners have won 11 of their 12 competitive fixtures, including nine at the tail end of last season to narrowly miss out on the top four and their first two of 2017-18 – a Community Shield win over Chelsea kicking things off a fortnight ago.
As good as Arsenal looked at times against Leicester when getting forward, time and time again they appeared nervous in defence and can consider themselves fortunate to have somehow escaped with three points on the board.
New signings Sead Kolasinac and Lacazette both played a key part in the comeback win, the latter of whom is now aiming to become the first Arsenal player to net in his first two Prem appearances for the club. With Liverpool and Chelsea to come in the next month, the Frenchman will have to be firing on all cylinders.
Stoke City possible XI: Butland, Zouma, Shawcross, Cameron, Johnson, Allen, Fletcher, Pieters, Shaqiri, Jese, Choupo-Moting.
Arsenal possible XI: Cech, Mustafi, Mertesacker, Kolasinac, Bellerin, Xhaka, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Welbeck, Ozil, Lacazette.