Robin van Persie is more than due a goal from open play as he hits his first rut of the season and it will be interesting to see how he combines with Gervinho. When Gervinho replaced the hamstrung Walcott last weekend, he looked sharp and immediately gave us a link from the right of the pitch, something that Theo was struggling to do in that game.

Seeing as this season is almost a reverse of last season, I would be most grateful if we can see a completely different performance to what we produced last season at Stoke. It was a quite powder puff display from a team that had completely run out of fight, commitment or anything that resembled an Arsenal team.

Fast forward eleven months or so and we are back at the  Britannia with a new attitude and team chemistry but the team has lost a little bit of its recent fluency, it was that fluency that allowed the team to go on a winning run and catapult us over our noisy neighbours. The risk of a Champions League place being removed from the league positions is one in two. as anything can happen in a 90 minute game in Munich. We want that match to mean nothing to our Champions League hopes and to do that, we simply need to win our remaining games.

Stoke City are comfortably in mid table and have very little to play for apart from getting one over Arsene Wenger and that is just about as much motivation Tony Pulis needs for his team to step their feet on the pedal rather than the opposite.

The squad has lost two key members of the first team so Arsene’s options have been cut somewhat. Mikel Arteta and Theo Walcott are both important parts of how this team functions and this is part of the reason why the team has lost part of its fluency. With three games left to play. it is now a matter of results over performance so however the team have to play to get a result then it just has to be done.

We know what will be coming our way. Stoke City have the lowest amount of passes in the league and they also have the most amount of long balls so it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny will be tested in the air for the full 90 minutes.

I suspect that Abou Diaby will be included in the team in place of Mikel Arteta and perhaps even Aaron Ramsey because he adds a physical and aerial presence to the Arsenal team which will be important from Stoke City free kicks and corner kicks.

It was ironic that our 1-0 victory over Stoke last season at the Emirates came from a corner kick, Squillaci was the goal scorer that day, I have a feeling that we will score from another set piece this time round. We are owed one after Koscielny’s header spanking the crossbar against Chelsea last weekend.

I think Gervinho and Benayoun will take the wide spots, this type of game will be one that Arsene will want to protect Oxlade-Chamberlain, especially after what had happened to Aaron Ramsey. While the Ox is a player of huge talent, he still lacks the physical qualities in the challenge at times which you would more than expect at 18.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

The Stoke City pitch isn’t something that I have paid much attention to, mainly because it is rarely used during their games but I do not expect a smooth playing surface and neither should the Arsenal players. Over growth of their grass is a ploy that Pulis has used in the past and I fully expect that to be the case once more on the weekend.

If that is the case then the players will have to readjust to the conditions and put even more emphasis on moving the ball even quicker. It is in these types of games that we need Abou Diaby to have an impact. When you cannot move the ball around quickly with your passing, a player like Diaby who can stretch his legs and run past people is a very effective way of opening up options. These last three games are a real platform for Diaby to push his way into Arsene’s thoughts before pre season should he of course, remain fit.

Robin van Persie is more than due a goal from open play as he hits his first rut of the season and it will be interesting to see how he combines with Gervinho. When Gervinho replaced the hamstrung Walcott last weekend, he looked sharp and immediately gave us a link from the right of the pitch, something that Theo was struggling to do in that game.

Arsene Wenger said that he used Kieran Gibbs ahead of Andre Santos because of the pacy threat from the Chelsea wide players so I wonder who will win that particular battle. I am guessing that Gibbs will keep his place as he was one of the players who came away with real credit in that game.

A quick start, early goal and team defending for 90 minutes is what I will be my hoping for. If we can score first then I think we will pick our game up again. This really isn’t the weekend to look towards our rivals results as I fully expect them both to win. Even Tottenham in their dismal state will beat a struggling Blackburn Rovers at home, while Chelsea face a QPR side who have been poor away from home.

We are in the driving seat and we need to take care of business, starting with Stoke.