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Stoke vs Arsenal team news: Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck drop to the bench whilst Mark Hughes makes one change

Hector Bellerin comes in for the injured Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

AARON RAMSEY has been left on the bench by Arsene Wenger as the Gunners hope to keep their top four hopes alive.

The Frenchman has opted to start Francis Coquelin alongside Granit Xhaka in the heart of Arsenal’s midfield.

Arsenal XI vs Stoke City: Cech, Holding, Mustafi, Koscielny, Bellerin, Coquelin, Xhaka, Monreal, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud.

Laurent Koscielny starts after being a doubt with a slight knock whilst Olivier Giroud is preferred over Danny Welbeck.


Keep up to date with ALL the football news, gossip, transfers and goals on our page plus fixtures, results and live match commentary.


For the home side, Mark Hughes make just one change from the side that drew with Bournemouth as Marc Muniesa drops to the bench with Erik Pieters coming in.

Where can I watch Stoke vs Arsenal?

The Gunners travel to the bet365 Stadium to take on the Potters on Saturday May 13, with kick-off at 5.30pm.

Live coverage will be shown on Sky Sports 1 from 5pm – with Sky Go subscribers able to stream the match live.

Alternatively you can keep up to date with all the action on our live blog – or watch the goals as they go in on our app.

Premier League form guide

STOKE – DDLWL

ARSENAL – WWLWW

SunSport prediction

Arsenal have been in resurgent form of late as they look to steal their way into the top four.

Stoke meanwhile has endured a patchy run and have nothign to play for with the season winding down.

Look for Arsenal to sneak a narrow win… 1-2.

Match facts

  • Stoke have only lost one of their eight home Premier League games against Arsenal (W4 D3).
  • The Gunners’ 12.5% win percentage (one win in eight) away at Stoke is their joint-second worst in the Premier League era (level with Sheffield Wednesday, one win in eight); they only have a worse win record at Manchester United (3 wins in 25, 12%).
  • Arsenal have failed to score in three of their last four Premier League visits to the bet365 Stadium, with two of those games ending goalless.
  • Mark Hughes is unbeaten in his last eight home Premier League meetings with Arsene Wenger (W5 D3), with that run spread across five different clubs – Blackburn (one game), Man City (two), Fulham (one), QPR (one) and Stoke (three).
  • Peter Crouch has eight Premier League goals against Arsenal, his joint favourite opponent in the division (also Blackburn – 8).
  • The Potters have drawn one and lost four of their five home games against the Premier League’s top six this season – they won three of their six against the same sides in 2015-16 (D1 L2).
  • Stoke have won their last Premier League home game of the season in each of the last three campaigns, scoring 12 goals and conceding three.
  • Arsene Wenger has been on the losing side eight times in 26 games as Arsenal manager against Mark Hughes (all competitions) – the only manager he’s lost against more with the Gunners is Sir Alex Ferguson (22).
  • Since their arrival in the Premier League in 2008, only Manchester City (14) have had more red cards in home league games than Stoke (13).
  • Arsenal haven’t lost any of their last eight away league games in May (W5 D3) – the last side to beat them was Stoke in 2011.

Your say – Poll

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