Sunderland v Arsenal: A preview to Arsenal's trip to The Stadium of Light

Theo Walcott of Arsenal and Lee Cattermole of Sunderland compete for the ball

The international break is finally over and the fans would be delighted to taste some club football action coming this Saturday. It seems a long time since Arsenal beat the Spurs 1-0 at the Emirates, celebrating a very crucial win. Good news, however, was the addition of the German play-maker Mesut Özil on the deadline day, whose signing has created much hype at the Emirates.

This Saturday, Arsenal travel to Sunderland for their fourth game of the PL campaign. After the terrible defeat against Villa, Arsenal bounced back, qualifying for the Champions League group stages and defeating Fulham and the the much hated rivals Tottenham Hotspurs. With the £42 million man likely to make his debut in the Stadium Of Light, Saturday’s game seems even more exciting for the Arsenal faithful.

Previous meetings

At Sunderland last year, Arsenal managed to grind out a 1-0 victory in which the Gunners displayed sheer determination to come out on top. After going down to 10 men, great defending and solid team play took Arsenal through to a win. Santi Cazorla got the winning goal that day and Carl Jenkinson was the man who was shown red. In their reverse fixture last year, Arsenal were held to a frustrating goalless draw, which was in fact the opening day of the season.

Starting XI

Arsenal will to be without Luka Podolski, Mikel Arteta, Thomas Vermaelen and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain but will have deadline day signings available in Mesut Özil and Emiliano Viviano. Özil will be in contention to start, challenging Czech international Tomas Rosicky for his spot. Viviano though would be expected to start on the bench due to Arsenal number one keeper Wojciech Szczesny’s improving performances. The rest of the line-up should be more or less the same.

Wojciech Szczesny(GK);

Bacary Sagna, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Kieren Gibbs;

Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere;

Santi Cazorla, Mesut Özil, Theo Walcott;

Olivier Giroud

Prediction

With Paolo Di Canio’s side still having failed to record a win this new season, expect this to be a tough task for Arsenal as they would be aiming to get 3 points at their home ground. On the other hand, Arsène Wenger’s men would be looking to continue their impressive form in the league since March, losing just once in the process.

Özil would hope for an excellent debut performance while Olivier Giroud would look to keep a perfect record in the League. Szczesny and the back four would want a a third successive clean sheet and the likes of Cazorla and Walcott would look to score their first goal of the campaign. Ramsey and Wilshere would want to build on their form and Arsène Wenger would hope for a comfortable afternoon at The Stadium of Light.