Arsenal take on Hull City at the Emirates Stadium in the lunch time kickoff on Saturday (11 February) with the Gunners looking to arrest their slide after two consecutive losses.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 12.30pm GMT. Live TV coverage will be provided on Sky Sports 1 and 1HD . Catch the highlights of the game on Match of the Day on BBC One and BBC One HD at 10:20pm GMT.

Overview

Arsenal find themselves in familiar territory going into the clash against Hull City on Saturday. It has been a case of déjà-vu as they face the prospect of being left behind in the title race after making a strong start to the season; they suffered a slight dip in December, before returning to second place in January.

Arsene Wenger's team were eight points behind league leaders Chelsea heading into February, but back-to-back losses against Watford and the Blues in the last two weeks has seen them drop to fourth place, 12-points behind and out of the title race. It is back to competing for a place in the top four for Wenger's team.

The Gunners were disappointing against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and the manager will be hoping to get a positive response from his team and avoid two losses on the spin at home. Wenger is still short in midfield with injuries to Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla while Granit Xhaka remains suspended. The team will be boosted by the return of Mohamed Elneny after his participation in the Afcon and the Egyptian is likely to return to the starting XI on Saturday. Hector Bellerin remains a doubt after he suffered a concussion during the loss to the Blues, but did return to training on Friday.

Hector Bellerin
Hectorr Bellerin remains a doubt for the game against Hull City after suffering a concussion during the loss against Chelsea Getty

Hull, on the other hand, have seen an upturn in their form since the arrival of Marco Silva, and will be in buoyant mood following their 2-0 victory over Liverpool last weekend. They also held Manchester United to 0-0 draw prior to that, and with the current form Arsenal are displaying they are sure to be targeting another major scale.

The Tigers are still in 18<sup>th and battling relegation, but four points in their last two games have seen them close the gap on the teams above them and are now only one-point behind Middlesbrough in 15<sup>th place. The Portuguese manager will hope his team can continue their upward trend when they visit the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Silva will be without key players Michael Dawson and Abel Hernandez, who joined their lengthy injury list after their previous game against Liverpool. However he will have the services of Ahmed Elmohamady who returned from the Afcon Cup duty and Lazar Markovic, who missed last game as it was against his parent club.

Stat of the Match: Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 13 meetings with Hull in all competitions (W11, D2).

What Managers Say

Arsene Wenger: "The best way to deal with Bayern [in the Champions League next week] is to win on Saturday, and to get the priorities right.

"Your priority in football is your next game, you don't even know if you play the game after if you are a footballer. The priority is to focus on Saturday," via BBC Sport.

Marco Silva: You need to have a big respect for Arsenal but only that. You always have to respect the opponent in a big stadium but although we know that Arsenal will be the favourites, that is only on paper.

I don't want my players to be afraid. Until now we show respect but only respect. Nothing else. We went into all our games to fight and take points," via the Daily Mail.

Betting Odds (betfair)

  • Arsenal to win: 2/7
  • Hull City to win: 12
  • Draw: 24/5

Team News

Arsenal

Possible XI: Ospina; Gabriel, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal; Elneny, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Iwobi, Ozil, Sanchez; Welbeck.

Hull City

Possible XI: Jakupovic; Elabdellaoui, Ranocchia, Magure, Robertson; Markovic, N'Diaye, Huddlestone, Grosicki, Evandro; Niasse.

Arsene Wenger