Pain in the Arsenal
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Arsenal vs Stoke City Preview: Should We Even Bother

By Brian Wong

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First of all, the answer to that heading is ‘YES’ followed by 100 or so ‘buts’.

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I never thought it would be possible but in about 4 weeks, Arsene Wenger has turned me into an emotionally unstable Arsenal fan. It started with the preseason expectations and the hype. That was quickly destroyed thanks to some rather poor games.

Then it was the whole ‘will he or won’t he buy anyone at the deadline’. It was foolish of us to think Arsenal would do anything. It seems like everything that could go wrong has been going wrong for the Gunners and at times the mood of the fans is similar to that of the team. However, it has been a nice long week of no Premier League games. In that time maybe Wenger has found a way to figure things out.

Prediction: Arsenal 1-0 Stoke City

1) 1 Goal in 4 Games

However you slice it, that is not the stat we expected going into this game. There is no way to sweeten this, Arsenal have been great at setting up goal scoring opportunities and are absolutely horrible at converting them. A brief look at the match statistics from Squawka.com and we find that Arsenal have attempted 54 shots on and off target, and only 1 has gone past the keeper and into the net. ONE!

I love Giroud, and I have nothing but hope and admiration for Walcott’s abilities, but 1 goal is not an acceptable amount. I have to tell myself everyday when I read anything about Arsenal that they have to be able to convert all these chances at some point. I fear that if I don’t believe that I would go insane and probably throw my TV out the window.

2) A Solid Defense

Well that is the one nugget of gold from the season so far. It’s not that Arsenal’s defense is really all that great, it’s just doing a lot better than the offense. The defense is stable at the back, and Gabriel Paulista has provided a different look to this defense. He brings power, recovery speed, and athleticism, everything Mertesacker does not provide to the defense when he is on the pitch.

Furthermore, the defense is deep with great wing backs, so at least that is one thing we don’t have to worry about so far. I have to admit that if there is one thing I praise Wenger for so far this season, it is his ability to keep hold of all the players playing right and left back. With multiple reports suggesting Debuchy and Monreal were on their way out, the fact that they are still on the roster is a great sign.

3) Stoke City will be Stingy

Stoke City will play a physical game with a stingy defense. Arsenal will once again face an opponent that is organized at the back and come at them with good counter-attacking players. It will be another ugly one and Arsenal will probably frustrate us fans the whole time. However, I just can’t believe Arsenal will lose this one. It just feels like the sort of game where things start to slowly click and pieces start to flow in place.

It has been terrible so far this season, but if we stop hoping and believing then there is truly no hope. So I’m going to try and stay positive and say that Ozil is going to be 100% and Oxlade Chamberlain will once again provide the important play that leads to the goal.

Next: Is Mesut Ozil A Serious Balon D'Or Candidate for Arsenal?

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