Premier League Preview: Arsenal vs Stoke
Premier League match time hits the Emirates as Arsenal prepare to host Stoke on Wednesday 23 February, in a first leg that was originally scheduled for December and was postponed due to snow.
Arsenal are coming off a 2-0 home win against Wolves on Matchday 27. Van Persie scored a brace for the Gunners who went ahead 1-0 in the 16th minute, when the Dutchman volleyed into the net. the Wolves. On Matchday 26, Wenger’s men had squandered a 4-0 lead at Sunderland, but this time they made sure there was no repeat. Wolves were never threatening and after Van Persie got his second goal 11 minutes after the break, the score was 2-0, the final result. It was a story of missed opportunities for the Emirates team. Van Persie himself missed a second shortly after his first strike. Arshavin also only had to beat the goalkeeper, following a corner from Van Persie, in another wasted scoring opportunity. Fabregas was the third player to lament a missed opportunity on a day when a 6-0 scoreline might not have been unwarranted.
On matchday 27, Stoke lost 1-0 at Birmingham. The game seemed headed for a listless draw, when 3 minutes into stoppage time, Zigic latched onto a Jerome cross and headed the ball into Birmingham. Birmingham had the better possession ratio and would have been relieved to pick up full points against a stubborn Stoke. In a brief spell of dominance, Stoke sniffed out the Birmingham goal as John Carew fired in, only to see it blocked. Pennant had a free kick, after being brought down by a hard tackle from Larsson; the shot beat everyone but missed the post by a couple of feet. Stoke were lucky not to receive a penalty when Huth blocked a Bentley using his hand for the purpose. In the end, the result was a true reflection of the strengths of the respective teams in the game.
Head to head, Arsenal have established a 3-1 lead over Stoke in 4 league games between the sides.
Of their last 10 league games, Arsenal have won 6, drawn 3 and lost 1; Stoke have won 4 and lost the remaining 6 of their last 10. In 13 home games this season, Arsena have recorded 9 wins, one draw and 3 losses, while Stoke have won 3 of 13 away games, drawing one and losing the remaining. 9.
In current form, Stoke will need a huge amount of luck to be able to prevent Arsenal from taking full game points.
Arsenal featured the following men in their starting eleven against Wolves: Szczesny, Sagna, Djourou, Koscielny, Clichy, Song, Fabregas, Wilshere, Walcott, van Persie and Arshavin. Denilson, Bendtner and Chamakh appeared as substitutes.
Stoke’s starting eleven against Birmingham consisted of: Begovic, Delap, Huth, Shawcross, Pugh, Pennant, Whitehead, Wilson, Walters, Jones and Carew. Whelan and Fuller were used as alternates.