Arsenal travel to Stoke on Sunday rueing a 3-3 draw at Liverpool in midweek thanks to Joe Allen’s late strike.
This Premier League fixture is notoriously difficult for the Gunners and ranks alongside away games at Manchester United and Chelsea as a ground ingrained with defeats outweighing wins since the Potter’s promotion to the Premier League
A wretched record at the Britannia only begins to tell the story of games involving the two teams who have grown to dislike one another.
Infamous battles, well-known off-the-field fallout and renowned hostility paints the backdrop to this fixture. The Ryan Shawcross tackle on Aaron Ramsey, the abuse directed towards the Arsenal squad from their own fans at the train station last season and a general notch up in atmosphere from Stoke fans.
The record itself stands at played seven, won one, drawn two, lost four in the league since 2008/09; the third best home record against Arsenal in that time.
Last year was one of the worst when Stoke went 3-0 up at half-time, a late fightback not enough to amend a dreadful first-half, ending 3-2 .
Looking to better that this year will be this XI, tasked with coping with a more stylistic Stoke approach under Mark Hughes.
