Arsenal host Sunderland this afternoon at the Emirates Stadium, and in doing so will play their first Premiership fixture since their win over Liverpool a week and a half ago. That match was the Gunners’ only win in their previous three outings, and that was followed up by an embarrasing loss to FC Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday evening. It is fair to say that Wenger’s men are out of form, however their counterparts today are in much worse condition.

The Black Cats are without a win in a whopping twelve Premiership matches, and are currently sitting in Sunderland following a rather impressive beginning to the season. Amazingly, Steve Bruce’s men have not tasted victory in the league since November 21st. Their victims that day, though, were none other than Arsenal. Their only win this year came in the FA Cup against non-league outfit Barrow. And I thought we were out of form?

On paper, this match should be an easy win for Arsenal. Of course, a lot of that will depend on the personnel available. Manuel Almunia is a 50/50 chance to feature in goals, however as long as Lukasz Fabianski doesn’t replicate his midweek escapades I don’t think he’ll be too much of a liability. Definitely sidelined are Arshavin, Gallas, Diaby, Eduardo, Gibbs and van Persie, while Alex Song is fit to start. That means the most likely line-up will be along these lines:

Nasri – Bendtner – Rosicky
Denilson – Song – Fabregas
Clichy – Vermaelen – Campbell – Sagna
Almunia

BENCH: Fabianski, Silvestre, Eboue, Eastmond, Ramsey, Walcott, Vela.

There are a few changes that Arsene Wenger may make to that line-up ahead of today’s match. Fabianski will step in for Almunia if the Spaniard is injured, with Vito Mannone moving to the bench. Emmanuel Eboue may be preferred to Bacary Sagna at right back or even in a wide role, while Theo Walcott could get the nod ahead of either Rosicky or (most likely) Nasri.

When you take into account the venue for today’s game, the recent fortunes of both sides and the sheer quality of the squads,  I can only see one outcome. I expect a convincing Arsenal victory, something that we haven’t had in quite some time. Anything less than a win would be a massive disappointment, and we need to rack up as many goals as possible in order to boos the sides morale.

Sunderland will be missing the likes of Cattermole and Malbranque while Anton Ferdinand and Kieran Richardson aren’t certainties to feature. They will be there for the taking today and must be overcome as easily as possible. I’d expect a big game for Cesc as these are the type of matches in which he thrives, while it would be nice to see Nicklas Bendtner get on the scoresheet. I’m tipping a 3-0 win, with the aforementionedpair to score at least one each.

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