Soccer

Arsenal vs. Stoke City 2017 live stream: Time, TV. schedule, and how to watch online

Arsenal need a win to have a shot at finishing in the top four, but Stoke City have a lot to play for as well.

May 13, 2017, 2:02 PM UTC

Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images

Arsenal are heading to Stoke-on-Trent for a late-season match against Stoke City, which is never really a pleasant task for bigger teams with goals on their mind. That certainly describes Arsenal, who find themselves outside of the top four but potentially with a chance to climb back into it soon depending on if other results go their way this weekend. Stoke will be eager to ruin that, though, especially since they have a good chance to climb into the top half of the table themselves.

The Gunners will be eagerly watching Manchester City’s match earlier in the day to see how things shake out there, because if City lose or draw, Arsenal can take a big step towards finishing in the top four. They trail by three points right now, and need to keep winning matches if they’re going to give themselves a chance to catch City in the next two weeks.

Stoke are not in the best form right now, winless in three with two straight draws against bottom-half teams, but they’re never an easy team to play, especially at home. Their style tends to frustrate teams like Arsenal in particular, as even with Mark Hughes in charge, there’s still an element of that grinding play involved that makes it hard to play the free-flowing attacking play that the Gunners prefer. If that frustration comes to the fore in this match, the Potters might just be able to knock Arsenal down a peg and leave them practically out of hope of reaching their goals.

Stoke City are coming into this match in fairly good health, with only Ibrahim Afellay and Stephen Ireland missing with injuries. Arsenal are in decent shape as well, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain unlikely to play after a midweek hamstring injury, and Laurent Koscielny facing a late decision on his availability with a calf injury. Both teams can survive without those players, leaving them as close to full strength as you can expect to see from a team this time of year.