Mark Hughes’ Stoke make the trip to the Emirates to face an in-form and bouncing Arsenal side.
The Gunners came out of Wednesday’s Champions League win in Marseille unscathed and new boy Mesut Ozil looks set to make his home debut in front of a packed Arsenal crowd.
After running the show last week at Sunderland, where Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud yet again found the net, Ozil completed the entire 93 minutes in France however this will be his first opportunity to strut his stuff in front of the bustling Arsenal faithful.
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Another new boy Mathieu Flamini completed 90 minutes in the 2-1 win in the European group stage, and continued to impress as he fulfilled his defensive duties faultlessly in order to let the creativity of Ozil, Ramsey and Wilshere flow.
Thomas Vermaelen once again made the bench however this time was unable to make an appearance despite his 10 minute spell at Sunderland last week to assure his comeback from injury.
Vermaelen is unlikely to dislodge the partnership of Koscielny and Mertesacker, especially in his current state of fitness, yet nevertheless the Belgian’s impressively speedy recovery from what was seen as a career faltering injury has blown many away.
Rampaging Ramsey
Theo Walcott will look to break his 2013 Premier League duck after his stunning finish in France, but is unlikely to catch up with fellow Briton Aaron Ramsey any time soon as the Welshman netted his 6th goal in all competitions on Wednesday.
Playing against the side where he suffered a horrific leg break a few years ago in a meaty challenge with Ryan Shawcross - who was visibly distressed at the time - Ramsey was hailed by boss Arsene Wenger in midweek:
"He has a great spirit and he has an obsession - he wants always to be better," said Wenger.
"There is a basic rule in the game that if you have a big injury before the age of 20 you come back and redevelop completely normally,".
"I was not too worried but you never know how deep the impact is psychologically. He had a little resistance to go into the fights for a long, long time - but now he is over it."
Mikel-back
In other huge news, at a time where the Arsenal midfield seems to be flourishing, centre-mid general Mikel Arteta could be nearing a return from a thigh injury which has left him sidelined for the season so far.
The Spaniard could play for the first time this season having missed out on every game, joining the influx of creative midfield talent which seems to be overflowing at the Emirates recently.
Santi Cazorla, Yaya Sanogo, Abou Diaby, Tomas Rosicky, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Lukas Podolski all remain unavailable.
Expected line-up
Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Ramsey, Wilshere, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud.
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