Arsenal Facing Selection Headaches Ahead of Stoke Clash as Yet Another Injury Crisis Strikes

Arsenal face a difficult test when they visit Stoke this weekend with up to seven key first team players potentially missing from the Gunners' squad.

Arsene Wenger's men travel to the Bet365 stadium for the evening kick-off on Saturday following an enthralling 4-3 win over Leicester on the first night of the season.

However, the three-time Premier League champions' squad will be thin due to a number of high profile unavailabilities. Stoke has historically been a difficult place to travel for Wenger, with his side picking up only two wins in ten visits to the Midlands since 2008.

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Star man Alexis Sanchez will miss his third consecutive Arsenal match due to the abdominal strain that he picked up in training, while long-term injury victim Santi Cazorla continues his recovery from his ankle problem.

Wenger told the press: "For Alexis it looks a bit early, but he is working hard in training. Our medical team think Saturday comes too soon but he should be available for next Sunday's game against Liverpool."

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Laurent Koscielny is serving the final game of his ban following his red card on the final day of last season, whilst there are still doubts over captain Per Mertesacker, Shkodran Mustafi and Francis Coquelin. 

Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette are expected to keep their places in the starting line-up after impressive performances at the Emirates last Friday. Lacazette scored two minutes into his league debut, whilst Ozil was his usual creative self, laying on six goalscoring chances for his team.