Arsenal travel away to one of the most, shall we say, hostile grounds today. There is no love lost between Stoke and Arsenal, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Fair enough, Stoke can play how they want, as long as they don't break the rules(Ha ha, you've got to be kidding!). The thing is, I just despise them, second only to those Mancs.
And before I get too carried away, I'll resume with those fun bullet points:
Stoke City(4-4-2): Asmir Begivic, Marc Wilson, Ryan Shawcross, Robert Huth, Ryan Shotton, Matthew Etherington, Dean Whitehead, Glenn Whelan, Jermaine Pennant, Jonathan Walters, Peter Crouch.
Substitutes: Thomas Sorensen, Matthew Upson, Rory Delap, Wilson Palacios, Cameron Jerome, Ricardo Fuller, Kenwyne Jones.
Manager: Tony Pulis.
Arsenal(4-2-3-1): Wojciech Szczesny, Kieran Gibbs, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Bacary Sagna, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Song, Yossi Benayoun, Tomas Rosicky,Gervinho, Robin van Persie.
Substitutes: Lukasz Fabianski, Andre Santos, Sebastian Squillaci, Abou Diaby, Francis Coquelin, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marouane Chamakh.
Manager: Arsene Wenger.
And before I get too carried away, I'll resume with those fun bullet points:
- Stoke will be up against our faces from the first whistle. They'll tackle hard, and unfair, and with the blood thirsty crowd backing up those neanderthals on the pitch, we might get a raw deal on all 50-50s in the match. Will today's referee Chris Foy call it down the middle? Let's hope so for our sake.
- Though Stoke's serial-long-ball-thrower Rory Delap is on the bench, they will still continue to use their long ball throw in tactics with Ryan Shotton. Hope Koscielny and Vermaelen are able to deal with all those aerial missiles, and Szczesny can claim the ball if and when our centre backs fail to repel those missiles.
- Talking of Szczesny, this will be a big game for him. Stoke will look to bully him from free kicks, corners and throw ins. We will need him to be at his best today and hopefully he'll come out with flying colours.
- With Walcott out of this game due to injury, Gervinho comes back in the right wing psition, while Benayoun takes the opposite flank. It's been a long time since Gervinho's put in a big performance and he's due one sooner than later.
- Robin van Persie, having recently won both PFA and FWA awards, must get his scoring boots today. Shrek is just a goal away from him now and it would be an absolute travesty if Robin doesn't win the golden boot for the season.
- A draw would seem a fair result, but it would put pressure on us to win the next two games, especially if Newcastle come up with three points against plucky Wigan. We need three points to tighten our grip on third place. And as a bonus, we get to beat those scumbags.
Stoke City(4-4-2): Asmir Begivic, Marc Wilson, Ryan Shawcross, Robert Huth, Ryan Shotton, Matthew Etherington, Dean Whitehead, Glenn Whelan, Jermaine Pennant, Jonathan Walters, Peter Crouch.
Substitutes: Thomas Sorensen, Matthew Upson, Rory Delap, Wilson Palacios, Cameron Jerome, Ricardo Fuller, Kenwyne Jones.
Manager: Tony Pulis.
Arsenal(4-2-3-1): Wojciech Szczesny, Kieran Gibbs, Thomas Vermaelen, Laurent Koscielny, Bacary Sagna, Aaron Ramsey, Alex Song, Yossi Benayoun, Tomas Rosicky,Gervinho, Robin van Persie.
Substitutes: Lukasz Fabianski, Andre Santos, Sebastian Squillaci, Abou Diaby, Francis Coquelin, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marouane Chamakh.
Manager: Arsene Wenger.
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