Stoke City is probably one of the most under-rated teams in the Premier League right now and is managed by an experienced, well-respected manager in Welshman Mark Hughes. Their squad is really quite decent and contains players who were or could easily be part of several clubs chasing the Premier League or the La Liga titles. Coming back from 1-0 down to win by a 2-goal difference is quite the achievement especially after Arsenal lost one of their main defenders in an early phase of the game. It turned out to be not that much of a handicap though as Bellerin proved once again he is growing into one of the best players in the world. The Spaniard dominated his part of the pitch, provided a perfect assist for Theo Walcott’s comeback goal and showed no ill effects in his game despite just returning from injury.
Speaking of Walcott, it is good to see the England international managing to reach his targets. A while back, he stated, jokingly or not, that he is focused on scoring 10 goals before Christmas in order to receive a coffee machine as a reward. Regardless of the reasons he made this milestone, with Walcott in good form and with Sanchez and Ozil in top condition, the title is very much on for Arsenal to take as they moved to the top of the table at least until after Chelsea play tomorrow.
Alex Iwobi’s play is also worth mentioning. The youngster seems to have got over the rough patch that put him on the bench. He is once again Wenger’s main pick for the left wing as he got the nod again today following his goal against Basel in the Champions League on Wednesday night. Iwobi justified his selection by scoring Arsenal’s third goal of the game after Mesut Ozil had put the Gunners ahead.
Even though all went well today when it came to the choices Wenger made and the way the team performed, there is a negative aspect that came from the game. Shkodran Mustafi seems to have picked up a hamstring injury which happened in the first 20 minutes of the game. It is the type of injury which could keep him out for a week if it is a mild strain but it will probably keep him sidelined for the remaining weeks of December and possibly longer. This is even more unfortunate given the fact that Arsenal face Everton and Manchester City in their next two fixtures. Wenger will be disappointed to lose the German but with the performance of Rob Holding against Basel on Tuesday the boss will likely not hesitate to use the youngster to replace the unfortunate Mustafi plus he has Gabriel available to step in which is probably the way the manager will go.
Arsenal sit top of the Premier League tied with Chelsea on 34 points over night and if Antonio Conte’s side do falter and lose against West Brom the Gunners will remain top of the table as they continue their unbeaten run which now sits at 14 games without a loss.