Stoke City vs. Arsenal: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
After successive 1-0 wins against West Bromwich Albion and Southampton, Arsenal will be looking to continue their fine run of recent form when they take on Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.
It's a venue at which Arsene Wenger's side have endured some tricky times over the years, and the Frenchman will be hoping it's not left to the magnificent goalscoring exploits of Alexis Sanchez to bail his team out of trouble once again.
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With a raucous home crowd behind Stoke, Mark Hughes will be hoping his team will be inspired to a much-needed victory. And if recent clashes between these two teams are anything to go by, we're set for a cracking afternoon's action.
Here's all the information needed to ensure you don't miss out on what's set to be a gripping 90 minutes.
Date: Saturday, Dec. 6
Time: 3 p.m. (GMT)/10 a.m. (ET)
Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra (US)
TV Info: Highlights on BBC One (UK, 10:20 p.m.), NBC (US)
Likely Line-Ups
Preview
Stoke have picked up some excellent results this season—most notably a 1-0 win at Manchester City—but have fallen into something of a rut in the past few weeks. The Potters have lost their last three games in a row in the Premier League, and Hughes needs a big performance from his players to trigger a change in fortunes.
The manager has called on the City supporters to help his team when the Gunners roll into town, per Sky Sports:
"For the most part Arsenal are an outstanding team but in recent times we've done very well. The help we've had from our crowd has been part of that. It's a huge part when you're trying to get positive results. I enjoy coming up against them and I am sure the lads do, too.
"
Indeed, Arsenal have only won one of their last six matches at the Britannia, per WhoScored.com, and while that was often down to Wenger's side being unable to cope with the physical approach of Tony Pulis' teams, they toiled last season, too, when a John Walters goal snatched the three points and sent the home supporters away happy.
While they play a much more expansive, open style these days, it'd be no surprise to see Stoke go back those stylistic principles for this one.
Despite a decent response to losses against Swansea City and Manchester United, there's still something eminently soft-centred about this Arsenal team. And if it wasn't for the magic feet of Sanchez, they would be a lot worse off.
The Gunners were unashamedly brash in their recent praise for the Chilean dynamo:
While there have been few bright spots aside from the form of the former Barcelona man, it's worth noting the excellent displays by Emiliano Martinez. The 22-year-old goalkeeper has started the last three games after Wojciech Szczesny picked up an injury, and in each of those games he's yet to concede a goal.
If he can repeat the feat at the Britannia, it'd be a wonderful achievement, especially with the likes of Walters and Peter Crouch putting him under pressure throughout the course of the 90 minutes.
Jack Wilshere has also been out of the side in Arsenal's last three games, and Gunners fans might be surprised to see that their team fares a lot better without the England man in the team, per Daniel Storey of Football365:
Stoke really need a performance here, and sometimes, often for some intangible reason, teams seem to have problems when playing at a particular stadium. For Arsenal, that's certainly been the case in the Potteries, and they'll need inspired performances from more than just Sanchez if they're to take a valuable three points back down south come the final whistle.
With that in mind, expect Hughes to have his side fired up for this one and for the Gunners—like they've done in recent years—to wilt before the baying Britannia crowd.
If it wasn't for the brilliance of Sanchez, the Gunners would find themselves empty handed at the end of play, but he should have enough to salvage a point for the travelling supporters.
Stoke City 1-1 Arsenal
