Sunday's Key Battles: Arsenal v Stoke City

The curtain falls on another Premier League season on Sunday but not before the Gunners host Stoke at Emirates Stadium. This season Arsenal.com will be identifying the key battles for the game. We will bring you all the statistics and information a fan could need so swot up now and come Sunday you will be impressing anyone who will listen with your new-found knowledg

Robin van Persie v Abdoulaye Faye
Before Stoke’s final home game of the season last Saturday, Abdoulaye Faye was named the Fans’ and Players’ Player of the Season on the Britannia Stadium turf. He could well lock horns with Arsenal top goalscorer Robin van Persie, looking for his first home Premier League goal of 2009. The Dutchman has nine goals and nine assists this term but his opponent’s defensive stats make impressive reading. The massive Senegalese has 28 blocks, 59 clearances, 23 interceptions and 22 tackles in his 35 outings.

VAN PERSIE V FAYE

	Robin van Persie	Abdoulaye Faye
Appearances	27	35
Minutes played	2123	3097
Assists	9	0
Blocks made	1	28
Clearances	4	59
Unsuccessful dribbles	6	12
Successful dribbles	8	22
Goals scored	9	3
Interceptions made	0	23
Complete passes	98	142
Incomplete passes	54	100
Shots off target	48	7
Shots on target	49	9
Tackles lost	14	5
Tackles won	4	22

Alex Song v Ricardo Fuller
Alex turned in one of his performances of the season at centre-half last Saturday in Arsenal’s goalless draw against Manchester United at Old Trafford. His manager described the move as an ‘experiment’ and he may persevere with it against Stoke at the weekend. If he does, Song could face Stoke’s top goalscorer Ricardo Fuller. The Jamaican international has bagged 10 goals and two assists in his 33 appearances this term as Stoke have quite comfortably avoided the drop. Song has a goal of his own this season and an impressive 81 per cent tackling success rate.

SONG V FULLER

	Alex Song	Ricardo Fuller
Appearances	30	33
Minutes played	1971	2299
Assists	1	2
Unsuccessful crosses	2	9
Successful crosses	1	1
Unsuccessful dribbles	3	19
Successful dribbles	6	11
Goals scored	1	10
Complete passes	106	99
Incomplete passes	49	79
Shots off target	10	31
Shots on target	6	23
Tackles lost	3	8
Tackles won	13	2

Bacary Sagna v Matthew Etherington
Some of Stoke’s success this season must be attributed to Tony Pulis’ shrewd January signings. One of those was Matthew Etherington who made the switch from West Ham during the transfer window. The Cornwall-born winger has racked up three assists and a healthy 67 per cent dribbling success rate since his move to the Potteries. On Sunday, he will probably come face to face with Arsenal right back Bacary Sagna. The Frenchman trumps his opponent in the passing stats and his 31 won tackles this season is by far the best record in the Arsenal squad.

SAGNA V ETHERINGTON

	Bacary Sagna	Matthew Etherington
Appearances	34	14
Minutes played	2880	1086
Assists	1	3
Clearances	42	0
Unsuccessful crosses	47	16
Successful crosses	5	4
Unsuccessful dribbles	5	6
Successful dribbles	10	12
Complete passes	158	62
Incomplete passes	82	43
Shots off target	6	4
Shots on target	6	2
Tackles lost	13	3
Tackles won	31	7

[Thursday, May 21, 2009]

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