Arsenal are going great guns at the minute, still unbeaten in the Premier League since the first game of the season and with just the EFL cup loss to Southampton to add to that early defeat by Liverpool. The Gunners are up to second in the league table as well and after Arsene Wenger played a very strong side in the Champions League away to Basel he was richly rewarded with a first European group win in years.
However, we really need to keep the recent run going and his decision to field the likes of Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil in Switzerland on Wednesday will be questioned if Arsenal struggle with their energy levels this weekend. The legs of the Gunners are likely to be testes over the next few days as well.
First up we have an in form and confident Stoke City coming to the Emirates and while Arsenal will have had just two days to recover from the Basel game, the Potters have had no such issues as they are not in Europe and were knocked out of the EFL cup in September.
The Potters might have a poor record against us at home but they will be up for it and Mark Hughes will not stand for anything less than full effort. Assuming we get through this match with another win, Arsenal then have another EPL match on Tuesday against Everton, another team with nothing but the league matches to cope with since September.
So while we are all delighted about topping our UCL group, could Wenger’s team selection mean that fatigue will play a part in the next two games?
Bob.