Arsenal vs Stoke City live: Watch EPL match on September 22, 2013

September 22, 2013 By Mike Goncalves

Topics: Live Stream, TV Schedules, Live Scores, Arsenal, Stoke City, English Premier League, EPL, Mesut Özil, Arsene Wenger, Mark Hughes, Aaron Ramsey

The Gunners are set to unveil Mesut Özil for the first time at the Emirates, in hopes that he can help guide them to another Premier League victory.

Preview: Arsenal looks to keep their perfect record at home against Stoke

It seems so long ago that Arsenal was defeated on opening day against Aston Villa, leading fans to come out and show their discontent. From lack of spending in the transfer window, to their inability to capitalize on their chances, critics and football analysts were all over what they considered a crisis in North London.

But call it what you want, Arsenal have since won six straight matches.

Three successive Premier League victories over Fulham, Tottenham and Sunderland have the Gunners second in the league standings, just one point behind Liverpool. Their two leg elimination against Fenerbahce gifted them yet another appearance in the UEFA Champions League, which got off to a great start mid-week when they defeated Marseille 1-2 at the Stade Velodrome.

They will now focus their attention on the domestic campaign, where they will host Stoke City on Sunday. This match will mark the unveiling of new signing Mesut Özil at the Emirates Stadium, since his £42.5m move to the club.

Arsenal's fans will likely chant and cheer for the German international, but since his arrival, he has done well enough to have already earned their respect.

His first match came against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, where a brilliant first touch gave him the opportunity to setup Olivier Giroud for the first goal of the match. Pace, creativity and vision are some of his main characteristics on the pitch, and the Gunners will need more of what he has to offer on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger's side has defeated the Potters in all five Premier League meetings at the Emirates between the two clubs. With Tony Pulis no longer at the club, Mark Hughes will be hoping that he can put an end to that streak.

Another new face at the Emirates could be Mikel Arteta, who appears to be set to return, after missing out on the start of the season with a thigh injury.

"Mikel Arteta is coming back in the squad maybe," Arsene Wenger told the club's official website. "He's back in full training today so we'll have to assess how ready he is until Sunday. He could be in the squad."

Despite that good news, the Gunners will still be without Lukas Podolski, Abou Diaby, Yaya Sanogo, Tomas Rosicky and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Meanwhile for the visitors, Mark Hughes will have been concerned with the knock that Charlie Adam picked up in training, which required stitches, but the Scottish international should be good to go on Sunday. Confirmed absences though will include Glenn Whelan, Marc Muniesa and Jamie Ness.

But despite their injuries, Stoke have managed to bounce back after their opening defeat at Anfield against Liverpool.

The Potters have put together two victories over Crystal Palace and West Ham, while they also managed to hold Manchester City to a scoreless draw at the Britannia last weekend.

Wanting to put an end to their poor form at the Emirates, Hughes is confident of his squad, but is very well aware of his fellow countryman Aaron Ramsey's current form.

"I am pleased for him," he said. "He is an outstanding player and is playing very well. He has added goals to his game and has turned it around."

"I probably watched Arsenal last year more than most and he was struggling for a bit of form and the crowd sometimes lost patience with him," Hughes added. "For him to show the courage to get his performance levels high, full credit to him."