Following Arsenal’s disappointing, yet highly entertaining midweek draw with Liverpool in the Barclays Premier League, the Gunners take on Mark Hughes’ Stoke City away from home. The Gunners kept hold of the top spot in the league but will need to secure a win against the Potters if they want to further distance themselves from Manchester City as well as attempt to pull away from Leicester. However, Stoke are no push-overs this season as they currently sit seventh in the table, only two points off of Manchester United.
The first man who has been on point for the Potters this season is youngster Bojan. The Spaniard has been one of Stoke’s finest players all season and can be relied upon to dig them out of most difficult situations. The former Barcelona forward’s main asset is his willingness to run with the ball. He isn’t too keen on taking on his man, rather receiving a pass as he runs into space or into a gap where he can use his immense acceleration to burst past the defence. To counter this, it is essential that the Gunners maintain a rigid defensive structure throughout the game. They cannot afford to allow cracks to open in their ranks through which Bojan can attack. However, he is also very willing to shoot from distance and so it is imperative that while the defenders maintain their shape, the defensive midfielders fall back behind Bojan and close him down quickly so that he doesn’t have the time to get a shot off.
The other player who has been solid for Stoke this season is captain Ryan Shawcross. The Englishman is not Arsenal fans’ favourite player in the Stoke side after his horror challenge almost ended Aaron Ramsey’s career. However, he is one of the league’s most capable defenders and is part of the reason why Stoke’s defensive record is so impressive. At six-foot-three, the central defender is a massively imposing figure on the pitch and as we saw in his battle with Diego Costa, he isn’t afraid to get physical when the time comes. However, he is not the quickest or most agile of defenders and most of the time relies on his bulk or interpretation of the flow of the game to get the job done. Playing a quicker striker than Giroud against Stoke might be a good way to stop Shawcross from hampering Arsenal attacks. Alexis Sanchez may well still be a risk if he were to be included in the squad, but if Theo Walcott were to resume the position which he dominated in the early parts of the season, then he could have an immense impact on the game.
However, the Gunners’ main concern will be to stop leaking unnecessary goals. Against Liverpool, a momentary lapse of concentration meant that Joe Allen was allowed to score the equaliser late on in the game. If the Arsenal side had stayed focused throughout the game then they may well have earned all three points as opposed to one. Therefore, against Stoke, they must remain vigilant at all times. Given the time or space, Bojan could prove to be a nightmare at the weekend, but Stoke have other players such as Jonathan Walters and Marko Arnautovic who can present equal levels of danger if not dealt with efficiently.
Overall, this is a game which could test the metal of this Arsenal side to prove whether or not they can maintain their form for an entire season. If they want to win the league then obviously they need to be winning this game but should they lose concentration, even briefly, it could end up costing them dearly.
