The defensive merry-go-round continues as 50% of our back four from our last Premier league outing will be missing due to injury. It is all change in the fullback department as Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs recuperate in the new Arsenal medical center. Andre Santos will keep his place after his up and down CL display and Arsene will probably call on the services of out of favour central defender Johan

Games against Stoke City doesn’t feel like just another game these days. You can always feel the heat simmering underneath the surface. Perhaps that is my own lingering resentment but I get the feeling that I am not the only one.

Five wins in our last six has given this newly shaped Arsenal team a little bit of confidence that is very welcome right now I must say. Every consecutive victory or at least positive result adds to the belief and the mentality of this team and that right now is certainly equally as important as the three points.

Opposition

Stoke City are currently looking down at us from eighth position, A Sunderland thrashing aside, they have started the season in very good form in both domestic and European competition. While the direct game will always be their strength, they have stepped up a level technically and now possess a squad that can hurt you on the floor as well as in the air.

Goalkeeper & Defence

The defensive merry-go-round continues as 50% of our back four from our last Premier league outing will be missing due to injury. It is all change in the fullback department as Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs recuperate in the new Arsenal medical center. Andre Santos will keep his place after his up and down CL display and Arsene will probably call on the services of out of favour central defender Johan Djourou. Djourou came on in Marseille and looked much better than his previous outing at right back.

If Arsene is feeling rather experimental then he could also shift Koscielny out to right back and draft Johan Djourou into a central position alongside Per Mertesacker but that would be breaking up one partnership and putting a new one together which would be unnecessary but would add more height from a central position. Either way, the inclusion of Djourou adds additional height to our team and that height could come in handy on set pieces.

Midfield

Aaron Ramsey fresh off the back of a midweek goal is likely to regain his starting spot and I imagine that Tomas Rosicky will be rotated to the bench. Mikel Arteta could continue in midfield while I wouldn’t be surprised to see Emmanuel Frimpong in the side to give Alex Song a breather. Song is vitally important to our team and he needs to be protected from injury.

Attack

Gervinho will return to the starting line up and hopefully the midweek rest would have done him some good. You can see plenty of potential with Gervinho but it still remains unrefined. When he came on against Marseille, he looked dangerous, setting up van Persie for a chance and contributing to Ramsey’s winning goal.

Robin van Persie gets the night off on Tuesday against Bolton but I am wondering if his work in France midweek will see our best player start from the bench. van Persie put in a big shift defensively and covered plenty of ground. I don’t know about Wenger but I feel a little uneasy at the thought of Stoke physicality and van Persie’s legs. While we would lose plenty of craft and goals we would gain an extra defensive player from set pieces if Chamakh was the man to replace him.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

Injuries

Abou Diaby and Thomas Vermaelen were supposed to rejoin the squad after the international break and now they are set for another two weeks or so away from the first team. Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson are also a few weeks away from a return.

Injury  List:

Jenkinson, Gibbs, Vermaelen, Diaby, Sagna, Wilshere.

Conclusion

I expect Stoke to offer their goalkeeper plenty of protection this afternoon with plenty of bodies in between himself and the Arsenal defence. They will most probably try and aim set pieces in the direction of Santos who is still adjusting to English football. I am interested to see how Mertesacker does in this type of situation. Even though he dwarfs his center back partner, it seems that it has been Laurent Koscielny that has been dominating the opposition aerially so far this season.

Arsene will want us to have plenty of the ball in their half to prevent Stoke from being a threat but when they do have chances to pump balls into our box we mustn’t give them any incentive by looking vulnerable.

I hope we can start the game the way we started the Sunderland game, an early goal wouldn’t go amiss either but I just hope the team can keep that level up longer than they did last weekend.

Lets keep the winning feeling.

COYG.