Arsenal are looking to get a winning streak going, their first under new manager Unai Emery, when they travel to face Cardiff at Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday. The two teams have not met since the 2013-2014 season, when Arsenal defeated Cardiff in both Premier League matches, 3-0 away and 2-0 in London. Aaron Ramsey scored twice in the 3-0 victory and the Welshman will be hoping to do that again and secure his place in the starting eleven. Overall, Arsenal have won four of the last five direct meetings in all competitions, while Cardiff City have not defeated the Gunners since 1961.
Cardiff are still looking for their first win of the season, so far they have lost two and drawn two in all competitions. They did secure a couple of goalless draw in the Premier League, at home against Newcastle and at Huddersfield, but earlier this week they lost 3-1 at home against Norwich in the League Cup. Nathaniel Mendez-Laing suffered an injury during the Huddersfield match and will miss out on Sunday, along with Aron Gunnarsson and most likely David Junior Hoilett as well.
Arsenal secured their first victory of the season last weekend as they defeated West Ham 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium. That result restored some confidence among the players and gave new manager Unai Emery some breathing space, but now the Gunners have to follow that up with another win. Sead Kolasinac, Laurent Koscielny, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Carl Jenkinson are still on the injured list and will remain unavailable for some time. Mesut Ozil missed last week's match due to illness, Aaron Ramsey replaced him and played well so the German might sit this one out as well.
Probable line-ups:
Cardiff: Etheridge - Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Bennett - Ralls - Paterson, Camarasa, Arter, Murphy - Zohore
Arsenal: Cech - Bellerin, Mustafi, Sokratis, Monreal - Guendouzi, Xhaka - Mkhitaryan, Ramsey, Iwobi - Aubameyang
My prediction: Arsenal to win 2-1, it will be a struggle for the Gunners but they should prevail.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Cardiff win - 6.50
Draw - 4.33
Arsenal win - 1.57
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