Arsenal will seek revenge when they face Sunderland in the Premier League.
The Gunners were held to a 2-2 draw by Regis Le Bris’ side in the reverse fixture back in November, and that result brought an end to their 10-game winning streak in all competitions.
Getting one over the Black Cats is important on its own, but in the grand scheme of things, Arsenal could go nine points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a win.
Thankfully for Mikel Arteta, he will not have the big problem that he did in the reverse fixture – it’s the complete opposite this time around.
Predict the score of Arsenal vs Sunderland and tell us who will score the first goal!
Mikel Arteta has a different striker problem ahead of Arsenal vs Sunderland
Arsenal have had injury issues all season.
Arteta hasn’t had a fully fit squad available at his disposal for any game since the start of the campaign, and that has been a problem.
In the game against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, 10 of the 11 players who started the game were Arteta’s first-choice starters.
The only exception was Mikel Merino, who had to play as a striker because Viktor Gyokeres, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus were all out injured.
That was a problem for the Arsenal manager back then, but now, it’s the complete opposite.
Arteta has Gyokeres, Havertz and Jesus all available at his disposal, but Merino is ruled out for the foreseeable future.
It remains to be seen who will lead the Gunners’ line on Saturday.
Who is Arsenal’s first choice striker when everyone is fit?
Who should start as Arsenal’s striker against Sunderland?
Arteta is spoilt for choice up front going into the game against Sunderland.
The Black Cats are expected to sit back in a low block and hit the Gunners on the counter-attack. That was their game plan in the reverse fixture as well.
Gyokeres has been Arsenal’s first-choice striker, but he has struggled against low blocks. Jesus is more suited to such games thanks to his unpredictability, so he could get the nod.
However, if it were up to us, we would go with Havertz up top, as the German’s movement and physicality inside the box could cause Sunderland all sorts of problems.
It remains to be seen what Arteta will decide to do at the Emirates on Saturday.
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