If Arsenal can win away to Stoke City today it will make it four wins in a row in all competitions and would surely put the momoies of a poor start to the season firmly behind us and leave us looking forward to the rest of the season with some optimism.
But with just one win from our last eight games against the Potters, it does not looka n easy task. But the home side are ona miserable run of form and results, with three defeats in a row and some of their own injury problems to deal with. They are nothing like ours, although at least Kieran Gibbs is available to cover for the Spanish left back Nacho Monreal.
On the other side, Hector Bellerin comes in because Wenger has moved young Calum Chambers alongside Per Mertesacker, with Laurent Koscielny only fit enough to start on the bench. Our polish international keeper is also on the bench after his minor knock saw him miss a few games and he is joined there by Danny Welbeck.
So OLivier Giroud comes into the centre forward position and Alex Oxlade_Chamberlain gets another chance to impress on one flank, with our star man Alexis Sanchez on the other. It gives us a great blend of power, pace and hard work up front, with Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey adding creative ability from midfield, although the Welshman will hopefully keep his discipline and help Flamini to protect the defence.
Martinez
Bellerin, Mertesacker, Chambers, Gibbs
Flamini, Ramsey, Cazorla
Alexis, Giroud, Chamberlain
subs: Szczesny, Koscielny, Ajayi, Maitland-Niles, Campbell, Podolski, Welbeck
The young players on the bench show just how stretched the Arsenal squad is, but hopefully they will not be called upon and hopefully we do not pick up any more knocks from Stoke’s tough tactics. Can we hold firm and produce the quality up front to grab a vital win?