Arsenal’s failure in adding to their defense and midfield options in the summer transfer window has seen the North London side barely managing to maintain their position in the Europa League places. A defeat at the hands of Manchester United was followed by a vital win at the Hawthorns, thanks to Danny Welbeck’s solitary goal. A late Alexis goal may have saved Wenger the blushes on Wednesday but with a number of injuries in midfield including long term absentees Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil, Arsenal Wenger will have some head scratching to do as he sends his team out to face Stoke City at the tricky Britannia Stadium.
Let’s take a look at the Arsenal lineup which could take the field against Stoke City.
Goalkeeper:
Emiliano Martinez
Emiliano Martinez has kept a clean sheet in each of his last three appearances and has looked solid in the back for a rookie keeper, who was supposed to be playing reserve and cup games this season. Wojciech Szczesny and David Ospina are set to resume first team training by this weekend and should be available for first team selection next week.
Defence:
Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs.
Calum Chambers can be a liability at right back when up against pace but his awareness and work ethic makes him a reliable backup for the injured Mathieu Debuchy, who is set to return next week after three months out with ankle injury. Nacho Monreal shook off a knock he took at the Hawthorns to start against Southampton, but is likely to be rested and replaced by the defensively stronger Kieran Gibbs. Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny line up at the heart of the back four as Arsenal’s tried and tested central defensive pairing. The defensive pair has already kept two back to back cleansheets and would be more than reliable against the Potters attack.
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