The weekend after this one Arsenal visit Stoke for the Sunday lunchtime kick-off where Arsene Wenger’s new-look defence will be put to the test regarding their ability to defend their goal at set pieces and from Rory Delap’s long throw. Stoke’s recent signing of Peter Crouch on the last day of the transfer window means that they are now even more dangerous aerially and they have found Arsenal’s defence wanting when they have used such attacking techniques during past encounters. A lot will depend of Arsenal’s new German centre-back Petr Mertersacker to marshal the defenders around him and keep them organised. Arsenal defenders have share a collective habit of not tracking their runners from free-kicks and corners but they have reportedly been practising this exact skill pre-season so it will be interesting to see if there is any evidence of improvement.
