After a period that witnessed three straight Premier League defeats for Arsenal there is something of a relative calm in the red half of North London as of late. That is because a routine win over Watford coupled with Europa League progress has just steadied the choppy waters that Arsenal have been sailing in over the past few months.
Although the international break will have halted that momentum slightly, manager Arsene Wenger will be looking to his players to pick up where they left off and continue their impressive recent run of results when they play host to Stoke City this weekend.
However, there could well be an interesting decision for Wenger to make. That being whether he puts all his eggs in the Europa League basket between now and the season. After disposing of A.C. Milan in the previous round of the competition the Gunners have now reached the Quarter-finals.
This means that they are just five matches away from winning the competition outright and in turn gaining a backdoor entry to next season’s Champions League. It could be a risky strategy but one that would be very rewarding at the same time should it pay off.
If Arsenal are to wave the white flag, then it is something that could well play into their opponents’ hands especially as Stoke are fighting for their lives in their ongoing battle to stave off relegation to the Championship.
Paul Lambert’s men were one of the eight teams that played in their curtailed set of fixtures before the international break and unfortunately for them they were on the losing side to Everton at the Bet365 Stadium.
This was a defeat which has worsened their current plight as not only are they still second bottom in the Premier League, but they also have played a game more than most of the teams that in the lower reaches of the table.
The fact that they have not won any of their last seven league outings speaks volumes, that run without a win is currently the second longest division with only the basement side at present West Brom being worse off.
If you were to have a glass half full you could point to the fact that Stoke have drawn three of their last six league matches, but at this stage of the season draws are not enough especially when your nearest rivals are winning matches.
Where others are making giant strides to pull themselves out of the relegation zone, Stoke are only taking small steps and it is this that is ultimately leaving them behind as the threat of being demoted looms ever large.
The fact that Stoke have the worst defensive record in the Premier League this season comes as no real surprise considering their current standing, in addition to that it has been down to a midfielder to score the bulk of their goals this season.
Swiss international Xhedran Shaqiri has found the net 7 times during this campaign which is a decent return for the former Inter Milan player, but perhaps questions must be asked about the players who are slightly further up the pitch.
Not enough goals at one end while conceding too many at the other is always a recipe for disaster and even if Arsene Wenger did decide to rest and rotate his squad you get the feeling they would still have enough quality to pick up a home win on Sunday.