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Played
February 11, 2012 3:00 PM GMT
Stadium of Light — Sunderland
Referee: N. Swarbrick
Attendance: 40312
February 11, 2012 3:00 PM GMT
Stadium of Light — Sunderland
Referee: N. Swarbrick
Attendance: 40312
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| Sunderland | 3.40 | 3.40 | 3.75 | 13.00 | 3.40 | 3.50 | 11.00 | 3.85 | 3.30 |
| Draw | 3.30 | 3.30 | 3.30 | 1.17 | 3.30 | 3.40 | 1.22 | 3.35 | 3.40 |
| Arsenal | 2.20 | 2.10 | 2.00 | 8.00 | 2.15 | 2.10 | 5.20 | 2.11 | 2.10 |
Sunderland - Arsenal Preview: Visitors face in-form Mackems having won only one of their last five away games
The Gunners returned to form in their recent clash against Blackburn Rovers, scoring seven goals, but face a Black Cats side revitalised under Martin O'Neill
By Adithya Ananth
Arsen Wenger - Arsenal
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PROBABLE LINEUPS |
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SUNDERLAND
 Mignolet Bardsley, O'Shea, Turner, Richardson Larsson, Colback, Gardner, McClean Sessegnon Campbell |
ARSENAL
 Szczesny Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen Song, Ramsey, Arteta Walcott, Van Persie, Oxlade-Chamberlain |
Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill has enjoyed great success since taking charge at the Stadium of Light despite a lengthy list of those injured in battle.
Marcos Angeleri (knee), Nicklas Bendtner (face), Titus Bramble (Achilles), Wes Brown (knee), Lee Cattermole (hamstring), Matthew Kilgallon and David Vaughan (both ankle) are all sidelined for the upcoming clash.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger also has a few players unavailable, as Abou Diaby (muscle), Carl Jenkinson (back), Andre Santos and Jack Wilshere (both ankle) remain in the treatment room. Meanwhile, Gervinho is away on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Marouane Chamakh has returned from international duty after Morocco were eliminated from the tournament in Africa at an early stage. However, he is suffering from fatigue and is a doubt for the upcoming clash against the Black Cats.
Kieran Gibbs has returned from a hernia problem, but is unlikely to return to the starting line-up straight away.
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DID YOU KNOW? |
- Sunderland are undefeated in their last three league games against the Gunners at the Stadium of Light. But they did lose their last clash at the Emirates Stadium as Arsene Wenger's men secured a 2-1 result.
- The Black Cats have a habit of scoring every alternate match against this opposition, and this trend has gone on for the last 15 matches against the north London club. If this continues, they would not score in the upcoming game since they hit the back of the net against the Gunners earlier in the season.
- The Black Cats are undefeated in their last five games in all competitions, which includes victories over Swansea City, Norwich City and Stoke City. They have a similar record at home in league games, having beaten Manchester City on New Year's Day.
- Martin O'Neill's men have also kept clean sheets in their last three victories on Wearside.
Arsenal have won only one of their last five matches in the Premier League, but that was a thumping 7-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers in their game.
- After winning three consecutive away games, Wenger's men have hit a rough patch as they have won only one of their last five on the road.
- Robin van Persie (pictured right) leads the goal scoring charts in the top-flight, having hit the back of the net 22 times this season. He also managed to score the Gunners' fastest-ever goal in the Premier League when they met Sunderland earlier in the season, when he managed to put the ball past the goalkeeper in 29 seconds.
- If all matches ended at half-time, then the Gunners would still have been in sixth position. But the difference between them and fourth-placed Chelsea would have been five points instead of three.
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Field Report
Reader's Predictions
Top 3 Predictions
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Sunderland 1-3 Arsenal FC
- 23.63 %
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Sunderland 1-2 Arsenal FC
- 12.43 %
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Sunderland 0-2 Arsenal FC
- 11.61 %
| FA Cup (FA) | 18 Feb 2012 | Sunderland 2 - Arsenal FC 0 |
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| Premier League (EPL) | 11 Feb 2012 | Sunderland 1 - Arsenal FC 2 |
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| Premier League (EPL) | 16 Oct 2011 | Arsenal FC 2 - Sunderland 1 |
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| Premier League (EPL) | 5 Mar 2011 | Arsenal FC 0 - Sunderland 0 |
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| Premier League (EPL) | 18 Sep 2010 | Sunderland 1 - Arsenal FC 1 |
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Sunderland
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| 13 May 2012 | Sunderland 0 - Manchester United 1 | EPL |
| 6 May 2012 | Fulham 2 - Sunderland 1 | EPL |
| 28 Apr 2012 | Sunderland 2 - Bolton Wanderers 2 | EPL |
| 21 Apr 2012 | Aston Villa 0 - Sunderland 0 | EPL |
| 14 Apr 2012 | Sunderland 0 - Wolves 0 | EPL |
Arsenal FC
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| 13 May 2012 | West Bromwich 2 - Arsenal FC 3 | EPL |
| 5 May 2012 | Arsenal FC 3 - Norwich City 3 | EPL |
| 28 Apr 2012 | Stoke City 1 - Arsenal FC 1 | EPL |
| 21 Apr 2012 | Arsenal FC 0 - Chelsea FC 0 | EPL |
| 16 Apr 2012 | Arsenal FC 1 - Wigan Athletic 2 | EPL |
| Returns: | Sunderland £130.00 |
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| Returns: | Draw £34.00 |
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| Returns: | Arsenal £80.00 |
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- Moses, Sigurdsson & Adebayor - the players QPR, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea & Tottenham are chasing this summer
| 22 | Simon Mignolet | Goalkeeper |
| 2 | Phil Bardsley | Defender |
| 4 | Michael Turner | Defender |
| 16 | John O'Shea | Defender |
| 11 | Kieran Richardson | Midfielder |
| 7 | Sebastian Larsson | Midfielder |
| 8 | Craig Gardner | Midfielder |
| 14 | Jack Colback | Midfielder |
| 23 | James McClean | Midfielder |
| 28 | Stéphane Sessegnon | Midfielder |
| 9 | Fraizer Campbell | Striker |
| 20 | Keiren Westwood | Goalkeeper |
| 3 | Wayne Bridge | Defender |
| 16 | Sotirios Kyrgiakos | Defender |
| 18 | David Meyler | Midfielder |
| 27 | Ahmed El Mohamady | Midfielder |
| 10 | Connor Wickham | Striker |
| 17 | Dong-Won Ji | Striker |
| 13 | Wojciech Szczesny | Goalkeeper |
| 3 | Bacary Sagna | Defender |
| 4 | Per Mertesacker | Defender |
| 5 | Thomas Vermaelen | Defender |
| 6 | Laurent Koscielny | Defender |
| 8 | Mikel Arteta | Midfielder |
| 17 | Alex Song | Midfielder |
| 7 | Tomas Rosicky | Midfielder |
| 15 | Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain | Striker |
| 14 | Theo Walcott | Striker |
| 10 | Robin van Persie | Striker |
| 21 | Lukasz Fabianski | Goalkeeper |
| 28 | Kieran Gibbs | Defender |
| 16 | Aaron Ramsey | Midfielder |
| 10 | Andrey Arshavin | Midfielder |
| 30 | Yossi Benayoun | Midfielder |
| 35 | Francis Coquelin | Midfielder |
| 14 | Thierry Henry | Striker |
| Simon Mignolet | |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Squad Number: | 22 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Simon Mignolet needs to ensure that communication with the back line remains good throughout, since the Gunners are arriving on Wearside following a stellar 7-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers. Any slip up will likely be capitalised on, which could spell doom for the Black Cats on the given day.
| Robin van Persie | |
| Position: | Striker |
| Squad Number: | 10 |
| Games | Goals | YC | RC |
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| 38 | 30 | 8 | 0 |
Robin van Persie has been on fire this season and leads the goal scoring charts by a clear six-goal margin. He scored a hat-trick against Steve Kean's men and has also just won the Barclays Golden Boot award. The Dutchman's confidence will be high and he should be able to make the most of things if Sunderland give him as little as a sniff at goal.
The visitors have returned to form following their victory over Blackburn, while the Black Cats have been resurgent since Martin O'Neill took charge at the club. But their sheer quality coupled with an attack-minded passing game should see the Gunners take three points at the Stadium of Light.
Results
Times In GMT
Match News
Top Scorers
| Player | Goals | Penalties | |
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Robin van Persie
Striker Arsenal |
30 | 2 |
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Wayne Rooney
Striker Manchester United |
27 | 6 |
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Kun Agüero
Striker Manchester City |
23 | 3 |
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Aiyegbeni Yakubu
Striker Blackburn |
17 | 4 |
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Emmanuel Adebayor
Striker Tottenham |
17 | 3 |
