Saido Berahino
Saido Berahino will hope to put his off field troubles to the side when West Bromwich Albion take on Arsenal Getty Images/Laurence Griffiths

West Bromwich Albion host Arsenal at the Hawthorns on Saturday in the 2014/15 Premier League.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 12.45pm GMT. Live coverage of the game will be available on BT Sport 1. Live Radio Coverage is available on BBC Radio 5Live.

Overview

West Bromwich Albion like Arsenal come into this game on the back of two consecutive losses in the Premier League against Newcastle United and Chelsea.

Alan Irvine will want his team to step up and grab a much needed home win and arrest the slide. The Baggies are currently in 13<sup>th place with 13 points from 12 games.

The manager will be hoping that striker Saido Berahino can put his off-field troubles to the side and continue his impressive form in the league. The English striker, who was called up to the Three Lions team recently has seven league goals, but was arrested recently for drunken driving.

James Morrison will be available to return to the squad after shaking off injury and illness and will replace Claudio Yacob, who is suspended for this fixture.

Laurent Koscielny
Laurent Koscielny's return to the Arsenal first-team will be a big boost for Arsene Wenger and the players. Reuters

Meanwhile, Arsenal like their opponents will be looking to get back to winning ways after consecutive losses to Swansea City and rivals Manchester United in the Premier League.

The Gunners have made the worst start to their league campaign in quite a while and Arsene Wenger will be keen to see his team start winning games and start catching up with the teams ahead of them.

The north London club are besieged with injuries and have as many as nine first-team players, who are currently on the treatment table. However, Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny are back in the squad, meaning Arsenal can finally have a slightly stable back four.

Arsenal had a morale boosting home win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Wednesday and Wenger will be hoping that his team can carry on the momentum and get the three points to close the gap on their rivals ahead of them on the league table.

Betting Odds (By 888Sport.com)

  • Arsenal Win: 9/11
  • Draw: 11/4
  • West Bromwich Albion Win: 7/2

What Managers Say

Alan Irvine [on Saido Berahino]: "I'm certainly perfectly happy with the way he went about things today in training. Berahino has done really well for us this season. Everyone's been giving him praise and rightly so. I can't talk about anything that's away from the football side."

Arsene Wenger: "We analysed the Man United game and there were more positives than negatives. I'm very positive about this team, there's something special in there."

Team News

West Bromwich Albion

  • Injured: Sebastien Pocognoli, Jonas Olsson (Achilles)
  • Doubtful: Chris Baird
  • Suspended: Claudio Yacob

Possible XI: Foster; Wisdom, Dawson, Lescott, Gamboa; Dorrans, Morrison, Gardner, Brunt; Berahino, Anichebe.

Arsenal

  • Injured: Debuchy (ankle), Diaby (calf), Ospina (thigh), Özil (knee), Sanogo (hamstring), Arteta (calf), Wilshere (ankle), Walcott (groin), Szczesny (hip)
  • Doubtful: Welbeck (knee)
  • Suspended: N/A

Possible XI: Martinez; Chambers, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Flamini, Ramsey; Sanchez, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Giroud.

Arsenal FC Arsene Wenger Premier League