Most of the bookmakers are giving out odds that suggest that the match between Arsenal and Stoke city on Sunday is unlikely to witness a lot of goals. Traditionally, this match has been brought a welcome affair for Arsenal, who are constantly bullied out by their opponents. This time, though, it is likely to be different because Arsenal have been demonstrating a rare quality in recent matches – resilience. They have been able to claim three victories on the bounce in the Premier league alone, which has put them in a comfortable position near the top of the table.

Arsenal could go top of the table with a victory over Stoke, while anything other than a defeat could see Mark Hughes’ men maintain their position in the top half of the table. It has been a decent start from Stoke since Hughes took over from Tony Pulis in the summer. They have also been attempting to change their style of football. As a result, one does not need to expect the same long ball stuff when they visit the Emirates stadium this time around. However, Arsenal defenders will already have a handful in order to keep Kenwyne Jones quiet.

The former Sunderland striker has been a first-team regular under Mark Hughes and this is expected to continue during the weekend as well.

“I haven’t seen a lot of them until now. But I saw them against Liverpool where they played quite well. They’ve gone to a different style of play but they were efficient before and they look efficient now as well. That shows you that the good players adapt. They are in very fine form but we are as well. We want to take advantage of the fact that we beat Tottenham, Fulham and Sunderland,” said Wenger ahead of the match.