Stoke City are desperate for points at this stage of the season and they will surely try their best to get something out of their visit at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Potters won the reverse fixture 1-0 in August, Jese Rodriguez scored the only goal of the match at the Bet365 Stadium. Arsenal won both matches against Stoke last season, 3-1 at home and 4-1 away, and they have won four of the last six direct matches. Stoke have not won an away match at Arsenal since 1981.
Arsenal have pretty much destroyed their dreams of grabbing a top-four Premier League finish this season, even though their latest league result was a comfortable 3-0 victory over Watford. The Gunners are currently in sixth place but they are no less than thirteen points behind fourth-placed Tottenham, so they have no real chance of bouncing up to the top four until the end of the season. Their focus is now on the Europa League as they reached the quarter-finals after a good 5-1 aggregate win over AC Milan. There are several injury concerns for Arsene Wenger, but striker Alexandre Lacazette could make his return.
Stoke City are in a terrible situation, they are 19th in the Premier League table and safety is three points away. The Potters have won their last two league matches and have not won a match since January, when they defeated Huddersfield 2-0. Their away form has been terrible this season, they have won just one of their fifteen matches and lost nine. Charlie Adam is suspended for this match, while Stephen Ireland, Lee Grant and Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting are injured.
Probable line-ups:
Arsenal: Cech - Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal - Xhaka, Ramsey - Mkhitaryan, Ozil, Iwobi - Aubameyang
Stoke: Butland - Johnson, Shawcross, Zouma, Stafylidis - Fletcher, Ndiaye - Shaqiri, Allen, Sobhi - Crouch
My prediction: Arsenal to win 2-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Arsenal win - 1.28
Draw - 5.50
Stoke win - 10.00
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Comments (1)
sharpe
04/13/18, 05:04:19 PM
Stoke are in really big trouble at this stage of the season and honestly I don't see a way back for them out of the danger zone especially after such performances. Right...
Stoke are in really big trouble at this stage of the season and honestly I don't see a way back for them out of the danger zone especially after such performances. Right the games with top 6 shouldn't their main targets for collecting points but still it's indicative of the level of their performances which is quite low as of now.
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