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Arsenal travel to south Wales at the start of a week that could go a long way to defining the success of this season. Arsenal will be bidding to continue their fine run in the Premier League when they make the trip to the Liberty Stadium to meet Swansea City on Saturday afternoon.
Swansea ended a poor stretch of results with victory over Aston Villa last weekend and they will be confident of picking up a result against the Gunners, who were beaten in the League Cup in midweek. However with Manchester City hosting Norwich, Arsene Wenger's side likely need to return from Swansea with three points if they are to remain level at the top of the table.
Can they keep the pace at the summit of the Premier League? It's a question that the next few weeks will answer.
Kick Off and Live Telecast
Channel: StarSports 4
Live Stream: starsports.com
Date and Time: Saturday, 31st October 2015 – 2030 IST (1630 BST)
Venue: Liberty Stadium, Swansea
Team News
Swansea manager Garry Monk has a full-strength squad to choose from for the visit of Arsenal. Swansea’s recent injury problems seem to be easing, with Wayne Routledge the only remaining absentee, who has trained this week after a calf problem.
Arsenal are without eight first team players going into this match, with not a single one expected to take part before the international break. Wenger is without his first, second and third choice right wingers, and any striker other than Olivier Giroud.
He can at least welcome back Per Mertesacker, though on the basis of the defender’s performance against Wednesday he may be wise to stick with the in-form Gabriel. With numbers lacking on the right wing Alex Iwobi and Joel Campbell will compete for a starting spot.
Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have been ruled out with injuries sustained during the League Cup defeat at Sheffield. Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, David Ospina, Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky all remain on the treatment table.
Probable line-ups
Swansea (4-2-3-1): Fabianski; Naughton, Fernandez, Williams, Taylor; Shelvey, Ki; Montero, Sigurdsson, Ayew; Gomis
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal, Flamini, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud
Form
Swansea
The hosts have struggled since their late August win over Manchester United, not registering another victory until last Saturday, when they defeated bottom of the table Aston Villa 2-1 in Birmingham. Their poor run of form led to surprise rumours that Garry Monk would face the sack, but he has received the backing of his club in cheeky style.
Monk could be tempted to name an unchanged side after last weekend's victory, which means that the responsibility of leading the line should still be with Gomis, who has not scored in any of his last six league games. Ki Sung-Yeung is set to keep his place in central midfield alongside Jonjo Shelvey, with Jack Cork once again likely to be named on the bench.
Last 5 games: L-L-D-L-W (Last Match: Swansea 2-1 Aston Villa)
Arsenal
In the league, Arsenal are on a four match winning run, having hit their best against Leicester and Manchester United before showing patience and resilience in wins over Watford and Everton. In between the latter two came a crucial victory over Bayern Munich that kept their hopes alive in the Champions League.
And yet just as things were going well, as is so often the case, a bolt from the blue left Arsenal in tatters. Their 3-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday left confidence in tatters and added to an already concerning injury list.
Although the display certainly was not acceptable, the loss could prove to be a blessing in disguise as Wenger looks to keep his squad fresh in the hope that he can deliver the title his supporters crave. The focus is, of course, on the league. Arsenal have started campaigns well before and fallen short later in the season, but Wenger must be hopeful that this talented group will show the consistency required to keep pace with Manchester City.
Last 5 games: W-W-W-W-L (Last Match: Sheffield Wednesday 3-0 Arsenal)
Key Stats
- Swansea did the league double over Arsenal last season for the first time since the 1981-82 season.
- They are undefeated in their last three league meetings with the Gunners (W2, D1).
- Only three Swansea players have found the net in the Premier League this year. Andre Ayew, Bafetimbi Gomis and Gylfi Sigurdsson have combined for 11 of the goals scored by Gary Monk’s side, as well as a Harry Kane own goal.
- Swansea ended a five-match winless league run with their victory against Aston Villa last weekend.
- The Swans have not won a home league game since August (D2, L1).
- They and Arsenal have both hit the woodwork six times in the league this season - more than any other Premier League club.
- Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored (16) or assisted (14) 30 goals in 60 Premier League appearances for Swansea.
- Arsenal have won four consecutive league games, and six of their last seven.
- They have scored 1999 goals in all competitions under Arsene Wenger.
- The Gunners have only lost one of their last 11 Premier League away games (W9, D1).
- Arsenal and opponents Swansea have both used 19 players this season, the fewest in the division.
- Olivier Giroud has scored in four of his last five appearances for Arsenal in all competitions.
- Mesut Ozil has provided a league-high seven goal assists this season.
Key Battles
Alexis Sanchez vs Kyle Naughton
The Chilean has been in mesmerising form of late as Arsenal have made a surge towards the top of the Premier League. He’s scored seven goals in his last six games and the Gunners have won four consecutive games with the 26-year-old in the side. With so many injuries in Arsenal’s midfield the onus will once again be on Sanchez to come up with the goods against Swansea.
Sanchez will be marked closely by Naughton and Montero. Swansea will try to keep Sanchez quiet throughout the game. Having been rested in midweek, Sanchez will be raring to go at Liberty, where he scored last season.
Whereas for Swansea, Jefferson Montero started the season in fine form and was superb in this fixture last year by hugging the touchline. Montero will be expected to help out Naughton at the back and provide defensive assistance when Arsenal play their possession game. This could be the real battle to look forward to, as the game will be quick paced and Sanchez and Montero are two of the quickest in the league.
Bafetimbi Gomis vs Laurent Koscielny
At the heart of this match lies an intriguing midfield tussle between two French players: Bafetimbi Gomis and Laurent Koscielny. Arsenal will look to their best defender, Koscielny, to resume his regular task of keeping out opposition’s striker from creating scoring chances and from pulling the trigger - something he's been especially effective at so far this season.
Clearly, suppressing this wall of defense will be a tough ask for Gomis, especially when Gabriel is expected to partner Koscielny at the back. Arsenal have reason to be confident of at least reducing Gomis’ influence upfront.
Bafetimbi Gomis will lead the line for Swansea. He’s an excellent all-round striker who scored the winner at Liberty Stadium and at the Emirates last season, but has a tendency to be caught offside. He’s been flagged 23 times this season - amazingly, that’s 14 times more than any other Premier League player.
Koscielny has been a key factor in the defensive success of Arsenal this season, who have only shipped 8 goals in the 10 Premier League games so far. The Frenchman has been quietly finding form since the season got underway. He leads his team from the back with an industrious approach. Gomis, on the other hand, will be looking to breach the defense and continue his scoring run against the Gunners.
Prediction
This is a big game for Arsenal. A trip to Wales is likely to push the Gunners to the limit at the weekend. With one eye on the crucial meeting with Bayern and a number of key players out of action, the Gunners face a battle against a confident Swansea side after their return to form last weekend. However, with the likes of Sanchez and Ozil in such good form, the visitors should have enough to claim the win.
Swansea 0-2 Arsenal
Betting odds (bet365)
Swansea to win: 4/1
Arsenal to win: 3/1
Draw: 3/4
