Arsenal’s great winning run came to an end last week in the 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough, but at least we didn’t lose, and we now have a chance to bounce back in the early kickoff at the Stadium of Light.
The usual injuries are starting to kick in so we can expect to see some changes to our line-up, but with the stats heavily in Arsenal’s favour we can be reasonably confident today. Arsenal have lost just one of their last 25 League games, while Sunderland are without a win this season. Also the Black Cats have only beaten the Gunners once in our last 25 meetings so the odds are stacked against the home team today.
There are a few doubtful starters for Arsenal today, so I am going to assume that Wenger will not risk any of them when picking the starting XI, so expect Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to replace our top-scorer Walcott and hope to continue his goalscoring run.
Gibbs will stay at left-back where he has looked better than Monreal lately anyway, and Elneny should continue as Francis Coquelin’s partner in midfield in the absence of Cazorla and Xhaka.
So my team looks like this……
Cech
Bellerin Koscielny Mustafi Gibbs
Elneny Coquelin
The Ox Ozil Iwobi
Alexis
Giroud should start on the bench with Aaron Ramsey also returning to the squad, but Wenger has already said that he will be cautious with both of them, but they may come on for the last 20 minutes to get a gentle run out. Jenkinson will also be on the bench while Debuchy remains in obscurity…
As for the score? I am feeling confident we can get back to goalscoring ways again so I’m predicting a 3-0 comfortable away win to keep us up with the front runners at the top of the table…
Admin