The days of Stoke City being a bogey club for Arsenal, or one the Gunners hate playing against are gone. Stoke are not the same gritty and dogged unit under Mark Hughes as they were when Tony Pulis helmed the club, but the Potters have only lost once in the last eight to Arsenal, so this will be a tricky game.
The club will make the journey from North London to the Britannica Stadium and manager Arsene Wenger will expect the team to continue its good run and win the game. The Gunners are undefeated in their last three (all competitions) and have also not conceded a goal in that time, the returning Laurent Koscielny possibly to do with that pleasing statistic.
The squad is still injury ravaged, with Mathieu Debuchy (ankle), Theo Walcott (groin), Mikel Arteta (calf), Mesut Ozil (knee), goalkeeper David Ospina (thigh), as well as midfielders Abou Diaby (calf) and Jack Wilshere (ankle) all remain on the side-lines with problems. Last minute check with be held to Kieran Gibbs and Tomas Rosicky.
Stoke have their own concerns, with Jonathan Walters and Robert Huth likely to sit out the game. However, the Stoke players are talking up another rough and tumble encounter and Arsene Wenger will remind his players that this is a team that has scalped Arsenal before. However, with the decent run of the last few games, the formidable form of Alexis Sanchez, and decent progress from Olivier Giroud and Danny Welbeck, there is three points on offer here.