Good afternoon and welcome to LIVE coverage of Arsenal against Stoke City. Arsene Wenger's side are bidding to avenge their recent 3-2 defeat to Mark Hughes' men at the Britannia Stadium.

Ospina with his first touch of the match as Crouch bounds up the park. Arsenal keeping the ball in the opening moments. To be fair, the pitch is ripe for that sort of approach.

Off we go then in this one at the Emirates. Stoke in their change strips of blue with one big stripe across the middle.

Teams are out on the pitch. Glorious day for football at the Emirates. Giroud and Sanchez ready to get the ball rolling. So to speak.

Mark Hughes: "Victor (Moses) is back in the group and he looks okay, he looks sharp, but whether or not he is ready to start that's something I need to mull over. But credit to Chelsea, he's come back well in terms of the rehab they gave him. He's bang on track. We'll be careful because prior to his injury he was arguably our best performer."

Arsene Wenger: "'He (Ozil) is an exceptional football player. He always gives you continuity in your game. He's a very creative player and ideally you want all your best players available. The advantage of these players - for example Giroud, Koscielny, Debuchy, Ozil - at the moment where most of the players in the league have played 26 or 27 games in their legs, they have four or five. 'If we can get them ready and fresh and competitive, it can give us a new (impetus)."

Teams: Arsenal: Ospina, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rosicky, Cazorla, Alexis, Giroud...subs: Szczesny, Bellerin, Flamini, Ramsey, Ozil, Campbell, Walcott///Stoke team: Begovic; Cameron, Wollscheid, Shawcross, Pieters; Nzonzi, Whelan; Arnautovic, Bojan, Walters; Crouch.Subs: Butland, Muniesa, Ireland, Wilson, Moses, Adam, Sidwell

David Ospina retains his place in the starting XI for Arsenal’s Premier League clash against Stoke. Wojciech Szczesny, who was this week fined for smoking, was widely expected to return to the team after Ospina deputised in the FA Cup third-round win over Hull. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger elected to start Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil on the bench after the pair returned from hamstring and knee injuries respectively. Olivier Giroud leads the line after returning from suspension. For Stoke Bojan Krkic returns to the team after injury.