Arsenal vs. West Brom: Team News, Live Stream, TV Info, Ticket News
Arsenal’s title challenge has collapsed so spectacularly that they go into this Premier League match against West Brom fearing for their place in the top four.
After two consecutive draws against West Ham and Crystal Palace, Arsene Wenger’s men need a win to inject some momentum back into a campaign that is badly petering out.
West Brom have achieved their primary goal of securing survival but are also in danger of allowing their season to end on a diminuendo. A positive result against Arsenal—a side they beat at the Hawthorns back in November—would be a surefire way to avoid such a fate.
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Date: Thursday, April 21
Time: 7:45 p.m. BST/2:45 p.m. ET
Location: Emirates Stadium, London
Television coverage: Sky Sports 1 / Sky Sports 1 HD (U.K. only), NBCSN (U.S. only)
Streaming: Sky Go (U.K. only), NBC Sports Live Extra (U.S. only)
Ticket Information
For ticket information on all Premier League games, visit the official site or go to the ticket page on the home club's official website. Secondary ticket information for Arsenal can be found here.
Form
Arsenal
L (3-1) vs. Barcelona
W (0-2) vs. Everton
W (4-0) vs. Watford
D (3-3) vs. West Ham
D (1-1) vs. Crystal Palace
West Brom
W (1-0) vs. Manchester United
L (0-1) vs. Norwich
D (0-0) vs. Sunderland
L (2-1) vs. Manchester City
L (0-1) vs. Watford
Arsenal have now won just four of their last 13 Premier League games. That's only marginally better than West Brom, who have won three across the same period.
However, the portents are still good for the Gunners. West Brom have won just one of their last 11 matches away from home. Arsenal will feel that this is a match they ought to win, but they would certainly have said the same about the match against Crystal Palace.
The Managers
With the title dream gone, Arsenal must instead focus on going game by game. Wenger seems aware that it would be foolish to talk of anything other than winning the next match. The Gunners boss told arsenal.com:
"We want to win our games, instead of focusing the table I think it is very important to focus on the process and quality of what we do.
At the moment that is frustrating as there is a lot of quality in our game, but we have not exactly got the wins that we wanted. We have to focus on that.
We want to finish as high as we can. It is not a consolation, it is about getting the best out of the team and focusing and giving everything in every single game. We need to show we have the mental level to compete until the end.
Our job is to give absolutely the maximum until the last day of the season. You expect that from ambitious, professional football players.
"
It's been a testing time for the Arsenal manager, but he's found an unlikely ally in Tony Pulis. The Baggies boss has defended the Frenchman's squad, citing injuries as the main reason that they have failed to challenge, per Stephen Turner of Sky Sports:
"Arsenal can beat any team in Europe on their day. And I think Arsene has been incredibly unlucky with injuries this season. He has missed big players at important times.
"
"Once all those players are fit, he has got a strong enough squad to win this league. He will be disappointed with the inconsistency but all the other clubs will be saying the same thing, apart from Leicester and Tottenham.
"
Respectful words, but come kick-off Pulis will surely be back to his combative self.
Team News
Arsenal
With three games in the space of seven days, Arsenal could take this opportunity to rotate their squad. Jack Wilshere made a goalscoring appearance for the U-21s in midweek, but is not yet deemed ready for participation in a Premier League match.
However, the likes of Per Mertesacker, Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud are all pushing for recalls. Wenger could take this chance to afford a rest to the likes of Danny Welbeck and Alex Iwobi before Sunday's testing tie against Sunderland.
Predicted Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Petr Cech; Hector Bellerin, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Francis Coquelin, Mohamed Elneny; Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey; Olivier Giroud
West Brom
The Baggies have no new injury problems from the weekend's match against Watford. That means Pulis could be set to continue with the same side that narrowly lost to the Hornets.
It will be intriguing to see if Pulis keeps faith with Saido Berahino. The young forward twice missed from the spot against Watford, so his confidence is sure to have taken a hit. It's been a difficult season for him, with only four goals in 28 league appearances.
Predicted West Brom XI (4-2-3-1): Ben Foster; Craig Dawson, Gareth McAuley, Jonny Evans, James Chester; Claudio Yacob, Darren Fletcher; Stephane Sessegnon, Saido Berahino, James McClean; Salomon Rondon
Players to Watch
Arsenal: Alexis Sanchez
Since switching to the right flank a few weeks ago, the Chilean has sprung into life. He has now scored or assisted seven goals in his last six league games. Wenger has told arsenal.com that he believes the new role is helping the former Barcelona man to be more productive:
"He looks to me to be more comfortable in his movement, especially in his movement in behind.
When he plays on the left, he likes to drift in then come back. When he plays on the right, his runs in behind are better.
"
James Chester is not the most mobile of left-backs, so Alexis should provide West Brom with a significant test on Thursday night.
West Brom: Darren Fletcher
In his Manchester United days, Darren Fletcher was often a scourge of Arsenal. Sir Alex Ferguson would pick him for his relentless work-rate in the middle of park, hassling Arsenal's ball-players and hurrying them into erroneous decisions.
Fletcher will hope to roll back the years and produce a vintage performance at the Emirates Stadium. Certainly, he and Claudio Yacob will need to be at their very best to keep the likes of Mesut Ozil at bay.
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.
