Stoke City vs. Arsenal
Venue: Britannia Stadium
Kick off: 5:15 pm
Arsenal will aim to get back to winning ways against Stoke City on Sunday (today) as they continue their hunt for the Premier League title, which they have not won since 2004.
The Gunners slipped up against Liverpool in midweek and they travel to the Britannia Stadium to face a team who have won their last two games in all competitions.
Mark Hughes’s side have proved already this season that they can more than hold their own against the big boys of the Premier League as they have beaten Chelsea, Manchester City and Manchester United.
This weekend, they will be up against a side who let slip a 3-2 lead to draw 3-3 with Liverpool, but Stoke have been on the losing end to Arsenal already this season.
In September, Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud sealed Stoke’s fate at the Emirates, but Hughes is building a team with players that look comfortable up against the league’s elite.
At the moment, Stoke are on a good run of form having won three of their last four league matches, and two of those wins came against Manchester United and Everton, so they will be a genuine threat when they welcome Arsenal to the Britannia today.
On Wednesday night, the Potters showed their fighting spirit after relinquishing the lead against Norwich City only to come back to seal a 3-1 victory.
The Britannia Stadium was not a happy hunting ground for Arsenal last season as they suffered a 3-2 defeat and lost Calum Chambers to a red card.
Not only that, manager Arsene Wenger was verbally abused by a group of his own supporters while boarding a train at Stoke railway station.
During Friday’s press conference, the Frenchman was asked about the incident, to which he replied: “I took it as people who were upset because we lost a game and didn’t take it personally.
“It was my function and the fact that I’m responsible for the club that was attacked. I was sad and upset more by the result than by the individual reactions of people, which I can understand.”
So, no bad feelings from Wenger, but he will be confident that a repeat of the incident will not happen on today as his team have only lost once in their last eight Premier League games.
There will be a slight disappointment, though, from Arsenal’s point of view as they dropped two points against Liverpool on a night when Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur failed to win their respective games.
Every season Arsenal are always in the hunt for title glory, but they seem to fall away towards the end and do just enough to finish in the top four, but the North London outfit have a realistic chance of going all the way given the lacklustre campaigns from their rivals Chelsea and Manchester United.
The Gunners have strengthened in the transfer window by bringing in Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Elneny, who is available to make his debut against Stoke today.
One player who has certainly found an extra lease of life is Olivier Giroud, who has scored 12 Premier League goals, two of which came against Liverpool in midweek.
The France international has netted seven times in his last eight matches on the road, but he has not performed hugely well against Stoke in the past as the striker has only created two shots on target in three games at the Britannia.
In the last five games, Arsenal have scored eight goals, but they conceded three against Liverpool and four against Southampton on Boxing Day, proving that they can still be vulnerable at the back.
Stoke City possible starting lineup: Butland, Bardsley, Shawcross, Wollscheid, Pieters, Whelan, Afellay, Walters, Arnautovic, Bojan, Joselu.
Arsenal possible starting lineup: Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud.