Arsenal and Stoke City will both be hoping to improve on their early-season form when they meet at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon.
The Gunners have had a mixed opening to their Premier League campaign and are already five points behind leaders Manchester City, while the Potters have not won any of their four games in the top flight.
Arsenal
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It has not been the most prolific of starts to the season for Arsenal, who came into the new campaign full of confidence that they could challenge for a first league title in 12 years.
The summer signing of Petr Cech and the Community Shield victory over Chelsea only served to heighten expectations, but they were dealt a huge blow in their opening Premier League match when they suffered a 2-0 defeat at the Emirates to West Ham United.
Although they recovered with a win against Crystal Palace in their next match, a goalless draw against Liverpool on their return to North London did little to appease the home fans.
Another unconvincing display followed in their last outing before the international break, as they laboured to a 1-0 victory over Newcastle United, who had been playing with 10 men from the 16th minute after Aleksandar Mitrovic's dismissal.
The winning strike in that match came courtesy of an unfortunate own goal from Fabricio Coloccini, meaning that two of Arsenal's three goals this season have come from opposition players.
Despite their lack of goal threat, and a long-term injury that looks set to keep Danny Welbeck out until Christmas, Arsene Wenger did not sign any new strikers before the transfer deadline and he has received heavy criticism from fans and pundits alike.
Arsenal were also the only side in Europe's top five leagues not to sign an outfield player over the summer, but Wenger has claimed that there was a shortage of quality personnel available to him, and he has backed Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez to turn his team's fortunes around.
Recent form: WLWDW
Stoke City
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While Arsenal may not have made the most ideal start to the season, it has been an even worse opening month for Stoke, who are yet to win a match in the Premier League.
There were high hopes that the Potters could enjoy another top-half finish in the top flight, but a late strike from Philippe Coutinho in their first game of the campaign saw them slip to a 1-0 defeat against Liverpool.
Another defeat looked set to follow in their next outing at White Hart Lane, but they fought back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, before they played out a 1-1 draw with Norwich City the following weekend.
Mark Hughes would have hoped that his team could finally record their first win against West Bromwich Albion as they returned to the Britannia Stadium in their next match, but by the 31st minute they were down to nine men, after Ibrahim Afellay and Charlie Adam were sent off.
They eventually slipped to a 1-0 defeat, leaving them 18th in the table and with just two points on the board.
However, the Potters won just one of their opening five league matches last season, and finished the campaign in ninth place and with a club-record tally of 54 points.
Although Stoke may not be expecting to pick up all three points at the Emirates this weekend, they will be targeting wins in their upcoming league matches against Leicester City, Bournemouth and Aston Villa in order to help build some momentum.
Recent form: LDDWL
Team News
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Giroud was left out of the starting lineup for Arsenal's previous match against Newcastle, but he is expected to return in place of Walcott.
Per Mertesacker has also returned to training after missing the last two games with a virus, and he will be battling it out with Gabriel Paulista for a spot in the back four.
Stoke will have to make do without Afellay and Adam, who are both suspended following their straight red cards against West Brom.
Bojan Krkic and Jonathan Walters will both be pushing for a place in the team, but Ryan Shawcross and Peter Odemwingie are still sidelined.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Gabriel, Monreal, Coquelin, Cazorla, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud
Stoke City possible starting lineup:
Butland, Johnson, Cameron, Muniesa, Pieters, Ginkel, Whelan, Walters, Shaqiri, Arnautovic, Diouf
Head To Head
Stoke have enjoyed a lot of recent success against Arsenal at the Britannia, but they have failed to win in North London against their opponents in 34 years.
The Gunners have won their previous 11 home games against Stoke, and last season they cruised to a 3-0 victory at the Emirates, with Laurent Koscielny opening the scoring and Sanchez adding a double.
This is a match that has become a fierce rivalry in recent seasons, following Aaron Ramsey's leg break in a challenge with Shawcross during a 3-1 win for the Gunners in 2010.
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Hit play below to see what the Sports Mole Sofa had to say about this encounter:
We say: Arsenal 2-0 Stoke City
It should be a competitive and hard-fought match at the Emirates, with no love lost between the two teams. Arsenal may be struggling to find goals, but they are grinding out results and are not yet cut adrift of Manchester City. Meanwhile, Stoke have some injury problems, and the suspensions of Adams and Affelay will not help their cause. Hughes will make sure that his team are solid and hard to beat, but we think that the Gunners will find a way through and pick up all three points.
Alex Meyers
