Arsenal’s season has been full of ups and downs so far. A great start was hampered by a very shoddy performance in the Premier League for which they are now paying dearly. They could finish outside the top four for the first time in the last 20 years but looking at the last few results, the Gunners might be able to slide into the Champions League spots after all. Three wins in the last four matches seemed to have given the Gunners a new lease of life as they still believe they have a good chance to finish in the top four.
The season has been an awful one for them as they crashed out from the Champions League after their defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich over two legs. It seemed a routine for the Gunners as they haven’t crossed the last 16 stage since their defeat against Manchester United in the Champions League semifinal in the 2008/09 season.
Stoke City haven’t been at their convincing best this season but against the Gunners, they are completely a different team altogether. The North London giants have only defeated the Potters once in their last ten visits to the BET365 Stadium.
Key Battles
Alexis Sanchez vs Bruno Martins Indi
The 25 year old Dutch international has so far been very solid at the Potters backline. Stoke’s shaky defence has been their weakness but amidst the performance of the other defenders, Martins Indi’s efforts speak volumes. The Potters have been a barrier to Arsenal and Mark Hughes would surely want to do a favour to his former club Manchester United by upsetting the Gunners.
A moment of brilliance from Alexis Sanchez changed the whole mood of the game as the Gunners went on to register their second consecutive win against Southampton in the mid-week. Sanchez was a bit out of shape in the last few matches but came back strongly when the team needed him the most. A convincing performance in the next match would see him help Arsenal take a step closer to burst into the top four.
Peter Crouch vs Shkodran Mustafi
The tall lanky striker has a particular very good record against the Gunners. Mark Hughes might take a huge gamble by unleashing him in the starting lineup. Crouch has scored eight goals and registered two assists in 23 appearances against the Gunners.
Shkodran Mustafi was pretty solid having come back from a long injury lay-off. With Laurent Koscielny, he needs to shore up the defence as Stoke have a pretty good record against them in recent times.
Granit Xhaka vs Joe Allen
Xhaka has started to settle in the Gunners midfield and his influence has been huge in the last few games. He seems to have found his rhythm and could be the ideal replacement to Santi Cazorla as Wenger said much earlier that he would love to see Xhaka as a box to box midfielder.
Joe Allen has been benefitted since he has been deployed in a much-advanced role. The ex-Liverpool midfielder would be very keen to prove his authority in this fixture.
