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Arsenal under Arsene Wenger have generally been regarded as a team that produces great flowing football and have changed the way that the game is played in England. They have also been seen as a bit lightweight sometimes, and Wenger has had his disagreements with managers like Sam Allardyce when teams have set out to bully the Gunners by playing a very physical way.

Written by oz gunner

How they lined up:

Arsenal (4-4-3)- Szczesny, Djourou, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Andre Santos, Song ©, Arteta, Ramsey, Walcott, Gervinho, Chamakh.

Subs: Fabianski, Frimpong, Rosicky, Benayoun, Arshavin, Park, van Persie.

The arrival of the beetle-headed dung-munching orcs from Stoke will be the first real test of our newly found confidence. Can Arsenal overcome these mutants and gain 3 points without a slew of injuries? Furthermore, can Arsenal get through 90+ minutes of  battle with 11 players on the field another red card for the good guys would not be a huge surprise.

Lineups are in:

Stoke City Starters: Begovic, Wilkinson, Shawcross, Huth, Wilson, Pennant, Whelan, Whitehead, Delap, Walters, Jones Bench: Sorensen, Collins, Pugh, Diao, Carew, Faye, Shotton

Arsenal: Starters: Wojo, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Gibbs, Song, Wilshere, Rambo, Theo, Arshavin, van Persie Bench: Lehmann, Vermaelen, Rosicky, Squillaci, Eboue, Chamakh, Bendtner

No real surprises there for us with injuries, the lineup card largely filled out itself.

Funny old game football. A week ago we were facing sublime skill, at the weekend passion and unlikely hope, and tonight aggression and anti-football. It is a testament to the Beautiful game that all types of football can be encompassed inside 7 days.

We know what to expect from this Stoke team under the tutelage of Mr Pulis, it will be park the bus, long throw ins and long, long balls to test the aerial expertise of our defence.

I hope Ramsey recovers soon and his injury won't be as serious as that of Eduardo or RvP. There isn't much I can do for him so I'll just pray and hope. The injury was really bad so I don't want to dwell on it too much right now.

The team responded brilliantly and the spirit was phenomenal. Hats off to each and every one of them.

I feel this season we have seen unprecedented complaints against our keepers. All three of them have come under scrutiny and have received widespread criticism. As regular readers will have noticed, I have defended our keepers time and again. The point I always made was that anyone who comes under that kind of pressure and who plays in a team with overall defending issues will make mistakes.

Morning all,

no huge, in depth analysis of yesterday's game as I only have the second half and Match of the Day highlights to go on. The result was just what we needed. It looked as if we were heading for that scabby 1-0 but the late penalty (it wasn't a dream!) secured the three points.

Earlier in the season we were the team who scored the most goals.

Ted Harwood is a regular guest contributor to Arsenal Station. He lives in Chicago, IL, and has been an Arsenal supporter for the better part of a decade. Here, he takes a look at the new USA Arsenal site and I follow-up with my own thoughts on it below. Ted also writes about movies, music, and other cultural artifacts on his blog, Running Downhill.

Lineups are in:

Arsenal: Starters: Almunia, Sagna, Gallas, Vermaelen, Traore, Fabregas, Denilson, Nasri, Eboue, Rosicky, Arshavin. Subs: Fabianski, Senderos, Silvestre, Merida, Ramsey, Vela, Wilshere.

Stoke City:Starters: Sorensen, Wilkinson, Huth, Faye, Collins, Lawrence, Delap, Diao, Etherington, Sanli, Sidibe.

Arsenal 2 (Arshavin 26, Ramsey 79) Stoke 0
(Premiership)

When news filtered through that Eduardo had picked up a knock before the game, it became apparent that despite having started the season with such an abundance of forwards that switching to 4-3-3 still left plenty in reserve, we were now down to Carlos Vela.