New Swansea boss Bob Bradley will have a tough test to overcome at his first Premier League match as the Swans visit in-form Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday. Last season Swansea pulled off the surprise in London, beating Arsenal 2-1 with the winning goal scored by former captain Ashley Williams. Two seasons ago Swansea won at the Emirates Stadium as well, that time the only goal of the match was scored by Bafetimbi Gomis. In fact, Arsenal have not won a home match against Swansea in the Premier League since 2011, when Andrey Arshavin scored for a 1-0 win.
Arsenal are full of confidence at the moment, they have not lost a match since the opening day defeat to Liverpool and they have recorded five consecutive wins in all competitions. It's also true that their winning streak was very close to coming to an end before the international break when Burnley held the Gunners goalless until the third minute of stoppage time, when Laurent Koscielny scored the winning goal. Per Mertesacker, Danny Welbeck, Carl Jenkinson, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey will not be able to feature in this match due to injuries.
After four consecutive defeats in all competitions and six matches without a win Swansea decided to part company with manager Francesco Guidolin, the Italian got canned right on his birthday and was replaced by former USA national team coach Bob Bradley. The American had some time to get to know the squad during the international break but whether he has managed to change something so soon remains to be seen. Nathan Dyer is injured and will be out for a couple of months, while Federico Fernandez, Jefferson Montero and Fernando Llorente are all doubtful.
Probable line-ups:
Arsenal: Cech - Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal - Cazorla, Xhaka - Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi - Sanchez
Swansea: Fabianski - Rangel, Hoorn, Amat, Naughton - Fer, Britton, Cork - Routledge, Baston, Sigurdsson
My prediction: Arsenal to win 3-1.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Arsenal win - 1.29
Draw - 6.50
Swansea win - 11.00
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