Arsenal face Stoke City tomorrow evening at the Emirates Stadium. It is a key game in the Arsenal's season and is one we have to win to stay in the Premier League race. The match should of been played a while back but due to the bad weather it has been postponed until tomorrow. We have improved recentely against the so called tougher teams and we should be able to defeat Stoke. Despite the poor performance at the weekend the team is in great form and many of the players from the weekend won't be playing anyway. We do however have a couple of injuries, these are Robin Van Persie and Johan Djourou. Annoyingly these may well be our two best players at the moment and they have been in excellent form. We will have to face Stoke without them but they should be back for the Carling Cup Final on Sunday fortunately. I am now going to look at the Starting XI Wenger should use to defeat Stoke.
Goalkeeper
Wojciech Szczesny will return in goal to the relief of the Arsenal fans. He has been brilliant this season so far, and we look a far better team with him playing instead of the awful Almunia.
Defence
Right Back
Bacary Sagna will continue at right back. He has been playing well consistently and will hopefully continue to do so tomorrow evening.
Centre Back's
There is bad news on the centre back's as the key defender Johan Djourou is injured. This means that Squillaci will have to partner Koscielny at the back. They have never played well together but can hopefully start tomorrow against Stoke City. It will be a big test for the duo but they should have the physical strength to deal with Stoke.
Left Back
Gael Clichy will replace Kieran Gibbs at left back and will hopefully continue in the form he showed against Barcelona.
Midfield
Defensive Midfield
Alex Song will continue in the important defensive midfield role for Arsenal. He has been superb recentely and we will need him at his best against a team like Stoke
Centre Midfield
Jack Wilshere will return after being rested at the weekend. He has been one of our best players this season and will hopefully have another good game.
Attacking Midfield
The captain will return to run the midfield and hopefully take Arsenal to victory. He is far better than Tomas Rosicky and the rest of the team seem to love playing with Cesc Fabregas.
Attack
Right Wing
Theo Walcott will be back in the side hoping to torment the Stoke defence. His pace could be key especially as the Stoke defence isn't the quickest.
Centre Forward
I knew it couldn't last and Robin Van Persie is now injured. It is only going to keep him out of this game luckily but it is still a huge blow for the Gunners. I would play Nicklas Bendtner in his absence as Chamakh has been poor recentely and could do with the wake up call of Bendtner being picked ahead of him.
Left Wing
Samir Nasri will start his first League game for a while. He has been in great form of late and will hopefully continue especially in the absence of Van Persie.
This is a very strong Arsenal side,that should be capable of beating Stoke. The defensive duo of Squillaci and Koscielny will have to be better than in the past to have any chance of winning though. I believe with Song and Szczesny also playing they will be ok and I'm predicting a 2-1 victory for the Gunners.
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