PL: Arsenal v Sunderland

Black Cat Saturday

Arsenal entertain Sunderland at The Emirates on Saturday. Their previous meeting ended in a 2-2 draw after Sunderland scored a last minute leveler, cancelling out a beautiful Leo Trossard goal. Roger Le Bris’s side are currently in eighth with one loss in their last five games. Arsenal, fresh off a 4-0 thrashing of Leeds, will hope to extend their league lead to nine points before City visit Liverpool on Sunday.

The Black Cats have been two different teams this year—nearly unbeatable at home and very susceptible on their travels. Sunderland will need to buck this trend to get anything off Arsenal, who have lost one in their last 19 home matches. They’ll have to do so without captain Granit Xhaka. Daniel Ballard will marshal the defense, and Brian Brobbey will provide threat in attack. Both Ballard and Brobbey scored in the reverse fixture.

Mikel Arteta will be relieved to make it to Wembley in the Carabao Cup, seeing off a limp Chelsea effort on Tuesday. Star boy Bukayo Saka is likely to miss the match, while he will also make a late call on his captain in midfield. Rotation may provide chances for the likes of Ben White, Ricardo Calafiori, and Christian Nørgaard, all of whom will be fresh and ready to make an impact.

Will Arsenal leave the Black Cats in the litter box? Or will Sunderland manage an unexpected result in North London? We’ll be at Dillon’s for the drama on Saturday, and we hope you’ll join us!

VCC


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