Arsenal v West Brom: Wenger Has Confidence in Leaky Defence

Arsenal will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions when they welcome West Brom to the Emirates on Saturday.

The Gunners have lost just once in their last ten games following last weekend's derby demolition of Chelsea and Arsene Wenger will be encouraged by the return of centre-backs Thomas Vermaelen and Sebastien Squillaci.

The Frenchman has plenty of options in defence and the manager is determined to find the right balance after his side conceded 21 goals in their opening 10 Premier League matches.

"The balance is vital," Wenger told the official Arsenal web site. "In fairness though, I must say that all the three can play with each other.

Laurent Koscielny is expected to be recalled after he was rested for the midweek Champions League draw against Marseille, with Vermaelen also pushing for a starting place.

"Koscielny and Vermaelen can play together and Mertesacker can play with Vermaelen and Koscielny. It gives us a bit of an opportunity to rotate a bit when needed and people are tired," Wenger added.

"Ideally, Vermaelen will play on the left [of the centre-back pair]. But Koscielny can play on the left as well so we have a good potential and balance there. I think that all the three can play at any moment, and we still have Djourou and Squillaci as well."

Arsenal missed the chance to secure their place in the Champions League knockout stage on Tuesday after they were held to a goalless draw at home to Marseille. A win would have guaranteed their passage into the last-16 but without the inspirational Robin van Persie, the Gunners' lacked the cutting edge up front.

The Dutchman's hat-trick in the 5-3 victory against Chelsea last Saturday took his scoring record in 2011 to 28 goals in 27 league appearances and he will relish the chance to extend his remarkable record against a Baggies defence that has managed only three clean sheets in their last 40 Premier League away games.

But West Brom have also been on a good run of form of late, with last weekend's defeat to Liverpool their first loss in five games. And manager Roy Hodgson will be encouraged by his side's decent away record this season as well as last season's 3-2 win at the Emirates.

The Baggies have recovered after a poor start that saw them lose four of their first five games. Since losing away at Swansea in mid-September, they have won two, drawn two and lost just once but their lack of goals could stymy their revival.

With just nine goals in 10 games, they have the joint third worst attack force in the league and with striker Shane Long out until December with a knee injury, that poor run looks unlikely to change on Saturday.

Team News

Arsene Wenger has no new injury concerns ahead of Saturday's match, but Kieron Gibbs and Marouane Chamakh are still short of match fitness.

"[Chamakh] has a little inflammation in his knee," Wenger said. "There is a little effusion and he will not be available for Saturday. Hopefully he should be ready again after the international break.

"[Gibbs] is not available for Saturday as well. He is progressing normally, a bit slower than expected but there's a chance he might be available after the international break."

Bacary Sagna (broken leg), Jack Wilshire and Abou Diaby (both ankle) are all long-term absentees.

West Brom striker Peter Odimwingie faces a late fitness test on a knee injury ahead of the trip to the Emirates but Roy Hodgson is confident he will recover in time for Saturday's clash.

"He took a knock in training the other day so at the moment he's not okay," Hodgson said.

"He was alright on Monday and the best part of Tuesday until he took a bang on the knee. We'll look at him tomorrow and hopefull he'll be okay for the game.

Paul Sharner and Shane Long (both knee) miss the north London encounter, with Zoltan Gera and James Morrison in contention to start.