English Premier League leaders Arsenal will host 18th-placed Norwich City at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday evening.
Arsenal (5-1-1), unbeaten in their last 11 games in all competitions, have a number of injury concerns heading into Saturday’s clash against the Canaries.
The likes of Diaby (knee), Oxlade-Chamberlain (knee), Podolski (hamstring), Sanogo (back) and Walcott (abdominal) are all out for the Gunners, while Cazorla (ankle), Ozil (knee) and Sagna (hamstring) are game-time decisions.
On the other side of the touchline, the visitors will be without Elliot Bennett (knee), whereas Republic of Ireland winger Anthony Pilkington is in a race to recover from the hamstring injury that kept him out of Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan.
The referee for Saturday’s meeting between Arsenal and Norwich City is Lee Probert, who has brandished one red card and two yellows in four Premier League matches this season.
Possible Starting Lineups
Arsenal: Szczesny; Jenkinson, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Flamini, Arteta; Özil, Ramsey, Wilshere; Giroud.
Norwich City: Ruddy; Martin, Turner, Bassong, Garrido; Snodgrass, Howson, Tettey, Fer, Olsson, Van Wolfswinkel.
Match Facts
Arsenal scored three goals from the 85th-minute onward to deny Norwich City a famous win at the Emirates Stadium last season, with Mikel Arteta (85′ PEN), Olivier Giroud (88′) — 21/20 to score at anytime on Saturday — and Lukas Podolski (90′) cancelling out Michael Turner’s second-half header.
The Gunners have lost only one Premier League fixture (out of a possible 26) in 2013, but have managed to keep just three clean sheets in their last 14 league matches at the Emirates.
Norwich, who have not won at Arsenal since opening day 1992, have lost three of their last four league fixtures.
The Canaries are 0-2-3 in their last five away matches against the Gunners.
The last four meetings between these two sides at Arsenal have yielded a total of 21 goals, 15 for the hosts and six for the visitors.
No team in the Premier League has tallied more points this calendar year than Arsenal.
Quotes
Arsene Wenger on Arsenal’s form in 2013: “It is nice to hear that because it shows the situation was not as dreadful as everybody thought it was.
“But especially [it shows] that we are consistent, we have addressed the situation since last November and that we are confident in our results, and that is very encouraging for the Premier League this season.
“I said I want everybody to be happy by the end of May and that is of course the target of every manager. That’s why we work so hard.”
Betting Odds
Arsenal (3/10); Norwich City (11/1); Draw (19/4)
Match Prediction
Arsenal 4 – Norwich 0 (14/1)
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