A single point will be enough to guarantee Arsenal an automatic qualification to the Champions League but they will be looking for maximum points to keep their hopes for a second place alive. A win on Wednesday will also ensure that the Gunners finish the season on a high and are in a buoyant mood before their FA Cup final against Aston Villa.
They were against Manchester United last time out in a match Arsene Wenger's men were second best for most of the game. Despite that Arsenal did manage to register a goal late in the game which ensured that they picked up a point from the match. Theo Walcott who played a part in the goal scored which was ultimately recorded as an own goal by Tyler Blackett, claimed that Arsenal had improved when compared to their performances last season but insisted that they must challenge for the title next season.
"It is a step forward from where we finished last year. But we want to -- and need to -- be pushing on now and trying to challenge for the title," he said.
"There was an opportunity in the season when we were getting close to Chelsea and people were taking about us competing, but I sensed throughout the dressing room that we were never quite up there with Chelsea," the winger continued.
"But looking at the squad, the manager [Wenger] has an absolute headache to try and pick his best team and we want that going into next season.
"We are looking very strong and you never know, he might add a few extra players but we need to be pushing for the Premier League now. There is no excuse."
Sunderland on the other hand will be hoping to make a difference at the other end of the table and need just a single point to ensure survival. The Black cats have performed admirably in their recent outings having lost just once in their last five matches.
However they will be against one of the league's most inform teams and will be lucky to escape with any points. Sunderland will be hoping to avoid a heavy loss more than anything since they currently have a goal difference which is inferior to that of Hull's. To make things worse, their trip to North London will be followed by a fixture against Chelsea and Dick Advocaat's men thus face a daunting task to avoid demotion.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Mathieu Debuchy will both remain on the sidelines for Arsenal and it remains to be seen whether Danny Welbeck will be making a return.
Billy Jones suffered an injury in the match against Leicester last time out and has been ruled out of the match against Arsenal. The Black Cats are already without the likes of Wes Brown, Jordi Gomez and Ricky Alvarez (all knee) and Jack Rodwell (hamstring).
Team sheets for Arsenal vs Sunderland
Arsenal's XI: Ospina, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs, Ramsey, Cazorla, Wilshere, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud.
Sunderland's XI: Pantilimon, Jones, van Aanholt, O'Shea, Coates, Cattermole, Larsson, Johnson, Graham, Defoe, Wickham.
Arsenal's Subs: Szczesny, Gabriel, Monreal, Coquelin, Flamini, Rosicky, Walcott.
Sunderland's Subs: Rodwell, Fletcher, Reveillere, Giaccherini, Vergini, Buckley, Mannone.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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