In their last outing, Arsenal lost to table toppers Manchester United at the Old Trafford. It was a match that would have potentially given Arsenal true hopes to challenge for the title.
Arsenal will believe that nothing is going in their favour as the lost to their arch rivals Manchester United earlier this week. Later in the week, they got the news that they will be facing Barcelona in the knockout stages of UEFA Champions League. Barcelona
is a benchmark for the top teams and is a nightmare to any team especially after their 5-0 performance against Real Madrid at Nou Camp.
Arsenal is going to play Stoke in the afternoon at home. It will be freezing cold in the London and Arsenal will be hoping to give early Christmas gift to their fans. Playing Stoke at the Emirates will apparently be a safe passage. However, with recent Arsenal
performances it is hard to predict anything.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger commented, "We are disappointed because we lost at Manchester United, but we have an opportunity to go back to winning habits at home."
To keep the title hopes alive, it will be vital for Arsenal to win this match. Anything less than a win will hamper the title hopes and the result will favour Manchester United, Chelsea and Manchester City.
This match against Stoke will be in remembrance as Ryan Shawcross will be facing Arsenal for the first time since he broke the leg of Aaron Ramsey. Wenger dismissed the rumours that Ryan Shawcross will be having additional security as he comes to the Emirates.
It was a horrendous tackle which left Ramsey with a broken leg and he had to be operated upon. It was potentially a career-ending injury to Ramsey however, he recovered well after months and is now on loan playing at Nottingham Forest.
With the past record of Stoke playing football in a rugby style, Arsenal players will be cautious on the pitch as they cannot afford any further injury in this season. Frenchman Wenger is keen to focus on the game and win against Stoke. While commenting
on Ryan Shawcross’s tackle he said, “I don't think there is any need to add any fuel on it and we should just focus on playing football, as we always do, and respecting our opponents. My message to the fans is to respect our opponents like we always do.”
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