EPL: Stoke City v Arsenal preview

Stoke City v Arsenal preview

Stoke could hand new signing Jese Rodriguez his debut at home to Arsenal after completing another transfer coup to land the Spaniard.

The Potters have made a habit of landing big names since being in the Premier League and continued that trend this week by bringing in Jese on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain. 

The former Real Madrid youngster becomes the fifth Champions League winner to move to the bet365 Stadium and will likely go straight in to the starting line-up for the visit of the Gunners.

Mark Hughes’ men looked flat in the loss at Everton on the opening-weekend and will hope Jese can spark some life in to the team. 

Hughes isn't expected to make too many changes from the 1-0 defeat at Goodison Park, although Bruno Martins Indi, Max Choupo-Moting and Jese are pushing for starts.

Darren Fletcher is expected to continue his partnership in the middle with Joe Allen, who has this weekend been linked with a move away from Stoke.

Belgian forward Julien Ngoy looks set for up to six weeks on the sidelines with a thigh problem, while Ibrahim Afellay and Stephen Ireland continue to recover from long-term injuries.

Stoke have won just one of their last five matches at home and rounded off their fixtures at the bet365 Stadium last term with an emphatic 4-1 loss to Arsenal. 

The Potters have not beaten the Gunners in the last four meetings and will do well to end that run against an Arsenal side who have started the season strongly. 

Arsene Wenger’s men won the Community Shield at the start of the month before fighting back to secure a dramatic 4-3 victory over Leicester on the opening weekend.

It was a perfect start for Alexandre Lacazette as he netted on his debut inside two minutes, However, it was Olivier Giroud who proved to be the hero, stepping off the bench to score the winner against the Foxes late on.

Giroud will hope he can force his way in to Wenger’s plans on the back of that goal but could have to settle for a role as a substitute once more.

Arsenal will be without Alexis Sanchez again as he continues his recovery from an abdominal injury but Shkodran Mustafi, Per Mertesacker and Francis Coquelin should all be available after missing the win over Leicester.

Arsenal won eight out of 10 of their away matches at bottom half teams last season, while they have been victorious in 11 of their 12 competitive matches since switching to playing three central defenders.