Arsenal vs Swansea City
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Kick off: 3pm
Arsenal host Swansea at the Emirates today as they look to continue their good run of form, which has seen them win the last five games in the league.
The Gunners will battle the struggling Swans in what will be new manager Bob Bradley’s first game since taking over from Francesco Guidolin, who was sacked earlier in the month. The north London outfit are in form at the moment having won their last five Premier League games, while the south Wales club have lost their last four and are hovering just above the relegation zone at the moment.
Arsene Wenger’s side will be looking to continue the momentum they had built prior to the international break and will also be looking for revenge as it was Swansea that effectively ended their title challenge last season. The French manager admitted that his team have to be cautious despite their opponents’ lack of form at the moment.
Apart from the long-term absentees, Arsenal will be without Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey, who are yet to recover from their injuries. It could be at least a couple of weeks before the duo return. The starting lineup is likely to be the same as the one that started against Burnley prior to the two-week break.
Bradley’s first job will be to arrest the slide as his side have lost four consecutive games. Swansea will face an uphill task against an in-from Arsenal, but the arrival of a new manager could galvanise the players, who will be playing for their places in the team.
The Liberty Stadium outfit came close to beating Chelsea earlier in the season, but had to settle for a draw. Their only win in the league this season came against Burnley in their opening game of the season.
Arsenal, however, do not have a good record against the south Wales club having won just once in their last five meetings, which include three losses and a draw.
Arsenal Possible XI: Cech; Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal; Xhaka, Cazorla; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Sanchez.
Swansea Possible XI: Fabianski; Rangel, Hoorn, Amat, Naughton; Fer, Britton, Cork; Routledge, Baston, Sigurdsson.