Arsenal travel to one of their least favourite Premier League grounds when Stoke City are their opponents on Saturday afternoon.

The Gunners have won only once in the league at the Britannia Stadium since 1981 - when two 90th-minute goals earned them a 3-1 victory in February 2010.

Late drama was also the fashion at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday, as Alexis Sanchez's strike one minute from time snatched the hosts a 1-0 win over Southampton.

The result, which was Arsenal's third successive win without conceding in all competitions, kept the Londoners sixth in the table, but brought them to within only three points of the third-placed Saints.

Arsene Wenger's side are making a habit of nicking points late on, having scored seven times in the last five minutes of games this season - more than any other side in the division.

Sanchez's 13th goal in 20 appearances since his £30m move from Barcelona further endeared him to the Arsenal faithful, and his presence alone could prevent them from being tormented by the Potters yet again.

Stoke are in the midst of their worst run of the season, having picked up only four points from a possible 18, and their slender 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Tuesday was a third loss on the bounce.

Mark Hughes's men also pushed Liverpool close at the weekend, but that will do little to console the highly competitive Welshman, who is seeing his side slowly cast adrift of the top half of the table.

He seems reluctant to use Peter Crouch, who has only featured for 45 minutes throughout the last five top-flight games, and so Oussama Assaidi and Marko Arnautovic may get the nod in advanced positions. Versatile American Geoff Cameron will again be asked to patrol the middle of the park.

Jonathan Walters scored the winner in this fixture last season, but is a major doubt for the hosts, while Glenn Whelan, Steve Sidwell and Victor Moses have joined Peter Odemwingie on the long-term injury list.

Wenger could recall Olivier Giroud to his starting lineup to help the Gunners match up to Stoke physically, and will accommodate him by shifting Danny Welbeck out wide and benching Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

The rest of the starting XI could be unchanged, with Nacho Monreal preferred to Kieran Gibbs at left-back and Emiliano Martinez maintaining his place in goal as Wojciech Szczesny nurses a recent knock.

Jack Wilshere, Mesut Ozil, Mathieu Debuchy, Mikel Arteta, David Ospina and Theo Walcott remain injured, but the "absolutely outstanding" Laurent Koscielny will continue in the heart of defence after his recent return.

Stoke:

Form in Premier League: LDWLLL
Form in all competitions: LDWLLL

Possible starting lineup: Begovic; Bardsley, Shawcross, Wilson, Pieters; Cameron, N'Zonzi; Assaidi, Bojan, Arnautovic; Diouf

Arsenal:

Form in Premier League: WWLLWW
Form in all competitions: DLLWWW

Possible starting lineup: Martinez; Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal; Flamini, Ramsey; Welbeck, Cazorla, Sanchez, Giroud

Sports Mole says: 1-1