please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Arsenal face Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium and the Gunners will need a positive result if they are hold on or even all but secure that third spot. The Gunners have only managed to get a single point in their last two league games, and with Newcastle only three points behind with a game in hand, Arsenal will need to win to make sure that they do not have to rely on other teams doing them favours. With a superior goal difference, Arsenal only need to win their last three games, if they are to finish the season in third place. Arsenal played out a boring goalless draw against Chelsea last Saturday. The Gunners did create the best chances but failed to take them. Van Persie could only hit the post from a Theo Walcott cross. Laurent Koscielny found himself free in the box but could only divert his effort onto the cross-bar. It was a disappointing draw for Arsenal because they wanted to bounce back from the Wigan defeat with a win but a mixture of bad luck and poor play meant they could only manage a point in the end. But, it was point more than Tottenham Hotspur got against Queens Park Rangers later in the day. And that meant Arsenal now hold a six point lead over Tottenham who currently occupy fifth place. Stoke City's season is all but over as they are safe from relegation but can't push for a European place. Stoke City suffered a defeat in their last league game at the hands of Newcastle United. They got brushed aside by an in form Newcastle team. It's been yet another season of poor results for Stoke City on the road. But, they currently sit in 14th place and have 42 points to their name. So Stoke have achieved one of their main aims of the season. But, they might also be disappointed at not breaking into the top ten this season after spending more money than most of the teams outside the top eight. Arsenal won the early encounter between the two sides in the league thanks to Robin Van Persie. The Dutchmen came on as sub when the score was 1-1 and he bagged a brace to seal all three points for the Gunners. But, Arsenal have only managed to get one win at the Britannia in five attempts. So it’s not been a good hunting ground for the Gunners. They will need to change that stat if they want to remain safe in third place. Stoke City have once again avoided the relegation scrap in the league but it's their efforts in Europe which will live long in the memory of Stoke fans. After reaching the FA Cup final last season, Stoke got their shot at the Europa League and they made sure they gave it all they had. They found themselves in a group that contained the likes Dynamo Kiev and Besiktas. Teams who have way more experience of European football, but Stoke City never got fazed and they finished runners up in their group ahead of a team like Dynamo Kiev. In the round of 32 they faced the tough challenge of trying to get past Valanica, the third best team team in La Liga. And Stoke City came up short against the team from Spain. After a 0-1 defeat at Britannia it was going to be near impossible for Stoke to turn the tie around, and they suffered another 1-0 defeat in the second away leg. But, Stoke's European campaign was to be admired as they had no previous experience and unlike other teams, they actually wanted to do well in a European competition. Stoke also made it to the last eight of the FA Cup but found their path to another Wembley trip blocked by Liverpool who came out on top at Anfield in that last eight meeting. Stoke broke their transfer record to sign striker Peter Crouch from Tottenham Hotspur for £12m. And Crouch is Stoke's top league scorer with nine goals, one of those goals was a spectacular volley against Manchester City and that goal is arguably the goal of the season so far. Crouch has already scored against Arsenal this season and he has a decent record against the Gunners. He once scored the perfect hat-trick against Arsenal when playing for Liverpool. His size has always caused the Gunners problems and Stoke will be looking to expose Arsenal in the air with the help of Crouch. Matthew Etherington has three goals to his name, but being a winger his assists probably mean more to him and he has six assists so far in the league. A pacey winger who can beat a defender on the inside or outside. Bacary Sagna will need to be at his best if he is limit Etherington's influence in the game, so this will be an interesting match-up. The Britannia is never an easy place to go and that is especially the case it seems for the so called big teams. Stoke City are able to raise their game for such occasions. Only Newcastle United out of the top six, have managed a win at the Britannia this season. But, only Tottenham out of the top six left without any points. The rest could only manage a draw. But Stoke City, have also lost against the likes of QPR,West Brom and Sunderland at home. Even though the game will not have much riding on it for them, rest assured Stoke City will be well and truly up for the visit of Arsenal. Both clubs have never got on well and it all came to a boiling point after Ryan Shawcross broke Aaron Ramsey's leg. Arsenal managed to cope and get a win in that game but that was their only win at Stoke. Last season, Stoke also had nothing to play for the league yet they lifted themselves and well and truly beat Arsenal. But this season, Arsenal are not as safe in the top four and they will need to match Stoke's energy and drive if they are impose their better technically ability in the game. Laurent Koscielny has been one of Arsenal's outstanding players this season and his consistency in an ever changing defence has been astonishing. A player that keeps improving year on year and he has been without a doubt Arsenal's best defender this season. And Arsenal will need his battling qualities against Stoke City. Theo Walcott will miss the game after picking up a serious hamstring injury in the game against Chelsea. Arsene Wenger has already ruled him out for the remaining three games of the season. Abou Diaby came on as a second half sub against Chelsea and he managed to complete the game without getting injured again. Arsenal will need Diaby's size and power to combat Stoke's physical nature. Diaby, a talented player who has had a nightmare season. Injuries after injuries have meant he has has pnly managed a few sub appearances. With Mikel Arteta also ruled out for the rest of season with an injury, Arsenal are short of midfield players and with Aaron Ramsey badly off form, the Gunners will need Diaby for the run in. Robin Van Persie was voted as the player of the season by his fellow peers and the Dutchmen fully deserved the award. 27 league goals and 10 assists means the stats also back up the fact that Van Persie has indeed been the stand out player of the season. But Van Persie has finally seen his form drop off as the season ends. He has only managed one goal in six games and after playing 50 games this season maybe Van Persie has started to run out of gas. But Arsenal will need Van Persie to find his scoring touch again if they are to beat Stoke City at the Britannia. With Newcastle United closing in, Arsenal will need to respond and make sure that they do not slip a place or maybe even two down the table. With three games to go, the Gunners will have to somehow get through it and end the season with the guarantee of Champions league football for next season. A win at Stoke City, will be a massive boost to those hopes. Team News: Arsene Wenger: Form Guide: please log in to view this image Three Key Match-ups: please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Overall Record vs Stoke City: Played: 94 Won: 50 Draws: 21 Losses: 23 For: 157 Against: 91 GD: 66 Last 6 meetings: Arsenal 3 - 1 Stoke City Stoke City 3 - 1 Arsenal Arsenal 1 - 0 Stoke City Stoke City 1 - 2 Arsenal Stoke City 3 - 1 Arsenal (FA Cup) Arsenal 2 - 0 Stoke City please log in to view this image Mangers Views: Arsene Wenger on being better equipped to face Stoke City: My Team: please log in to view this image Final Score: please log in to view this image
Good article as ever. Like you said, the Britannia is a tough place to go, and we struggle against power/rugby sides. If we get a point i'll be delighted. Stoke:2 Arsenal:1
Thanks. Yep, it's going to be hard, as Stoke always raise their game when the big teams go there. But, they are hardly in great form and have only managed to get one win in their last six games. Set pieces are going to be a pain as per normal against them, but I think we can also hurt them on the counter.
On our current form, i don't think we could hurt anyone on the counter. We were terrible against Wigan, and though we improved against Chelsea, our best opportunities came from set pieces. Naturally, i blame Ramsey. Every time we set off on the counter, he makes the wrong pass, or dawdles with the ball.
Hence, I have Diaby starting. Coquelin could also start. Ramsey is off form and looks spent. Also, him and Rosicky in the same midfield against Stoke is too light weight.
Talking about Diaby and also counter attacking, I remembered this goal. [video=youtube;hOs2Gf0rhd8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOs2Gf0rhd8[/video] Class.
Diaby is a class act. I always thought he'd become to be known as Paddy Diaby for his box to box skills and tough tackling in the middle. He's more attacking than Vieira, but he's still got a bite in his tackle. His injury record is terrible, but that's not to say that he can't get beyond that and become a great player - you only have to look to RVP for inspiration. I think Diaby will start against Stoke and I'm predicting a big game for him. p.s. The Villa goal - Diaby is a legend for jumping into the crowd to celebrate with the Gooners
no way in hell would i go with a wing pairing of Benayoun and Gervino, that's crazy, Gervino has been completely out of form since January, and it should be OXO playing out there on the wing!
The injuries are getting worrying, and this is a BIG game - no mistakes about that. Anything short of a win and the nerves really start to creep in. Start fast, start hard, dominate possession. Not sure if Oxo or Gerv should start, but Benny is a good move. The bench is going to be particularly weak for this game.
i doubt that diaby will start, and really hope that he doesn't. knowing his injury record, stoke will obviously target his knees and lower leg with their tackles. of course it may get them a red card, but diaby wouldn't last 20 minutes against this rugby team without getting injured and having his career ended. ramsey seems to have gotten over his injury problems and would be my choice in midfielder, unless coquelin is back. if coquelin is back i would play him, and he is fairly robust and has very good passing abilities to keep possession. mertesacker is really a big miss for this game due to crouch playing. he would be able to easily shove him out the way and deal with any long balls. now we will have to rely on vermaelen or koscielny trying to jump over crouch, who will fall over far too easily and get them a free kick, where they are most dangerous (i.e. last season their late goal from a "foul")
you'll walk it. Stoke have finished their season and are just treading water now. Stoke were utter toilet against Newcastle, it was like a training game at times. Thankfully, this also means they aren't so hard in the tackle, so Newcastle came through the game unscathed and no new injuries - something I'm sure you Gooners would appreciate right now. If it wasn't for numerous incorrect offside decisions by the linesman (sadly a common theme this season) Newcastle would have won by five or six.
Rosicky was ill, he was playing Chelsea being ill, and just could not run for more than 60 min. 20 min after the game he was still on the medical table recovering. This is what Wenger says. If you call it off form, then medically you are right, but not.. err footballistically.
Yes. It used to be just a paragraph but I decided to write more stuff about the opposition in the long preview.
To a certain extent this is true but playing Arsenal at home is like a cup final for us so I think we'll be up for it. Swing low sweet chariot.
Quite interesting to see the last 6 games we've played them. The media and other rival fans would have you think we get dominated every time we play them but we've won 4 from 6. I actually hope Diaby plays. He's physical and can handle himself a lot better than Ramsey, which is what we'll need against Stoke if we wanna control the midfield. I still reckon it'll be a draw but I'd take that.
Hmm I was wondering if Chamakh would feature in this game! Probably not but I'd not be surprised if we went for a more physical approach with him + give RVP a rest. This game will be extremely difficult and I'd not be devastated by a point considering our injury woes. Still think we've enough in us to take it to Stoke and get a win if we take the game with the right frame of mind. Never understood why teams rest on their laurels when they're safe. Is pride not enough for some people? I'd never want to lose and would want my team to finish as high as is humanly possible. Not to mention it's half a mil per place in the league and the higher you are the more appealing you become to new player talent/sponsorships.
I would like to continue the thing about Chamakh... it is an obvious risk playing him but it may just pay off in this particular case. I may elect to keep RVP on the bench, as we did in the game at the Emirates. Worth a punt?
