Arsenal 3-2 Swansea: Arsenal hold off Swansea - as it happened

Position	Name		Position	Name
GK	Petr CECH		GK	Lukasz FABIANSKI
RB	Hector BELLERIN		RB	Kyle NAUGHTON
CB	Shkodran MUSTAFI		CB	Federico FERNANDEZ
CB	Laurent KOSCIELNY		CB	Jordi AMAT
LB	Nacho MONREAL		LB	Neil TAYLOR
DM	Santi CAZORLA		CM	Jack CORK
DM	Granit XHAKA		CM	Leon BRITTON
RM	Theo WALCOTT		CM	Leroy FER
AM	Mesut OZIL		RW	Mo BARROW
LM	Alexander IWOBI		LW	Wayne Routledge
ST	Alexis SANCHEZ		ST	Gylfi SIGURDSSON
SUB	Kieran GIBBS		SUB	Sung-Yueng KI
SUB	GABRIEL		SUB	Mike VAN DER HOORN
SUB	Lucas PEREZ		SUB	BORJA BASTON
SUB	David OSPINA		SUB	Kristoffer NORDFELDT
SUB	Alex OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN		SUB	ANGEL RANGEL
SUB	Francis COQUELIN		SUB	Stephen KINGSLEY
SUB	Mohamed ELNENY		SUB	Jay FULTON

Join me tomorrow afternoon at 2pm, as the teams are announced - with proceedings getting under way one hour later. For now, good night.

Although, a look at the previous encounters between the two sides makes for good reading for Swansea fans - having only lost one of their last five matches against the Gunners, and furthermore, the Welsh side haven't lost at the Emirates in over three years. Food for thought for Arsenal fans.

Last season, their title hopes were all but ended by a shock loss to the Swans, as goals from Wayne Routledge and the now Everton clad Ashley Williams boosted Swansea's survival hopes.

 

A crucial encounter for both sides which is set to impact both ends of the table - with Arsenal looking to close the gap at the top after a poor pair of opening games; however, Arsene Wenger's rejuvenated side are showcasing some glorious football, on an eight game unbeaten run in all competitions. Whilst their late, controversial win over Burnley 12 days ago may not have been the way Wenger envisioned his 20th anniversary match, it showed a change in mentality from previous years.

Meanwhile, Swansea have endured a turbulent fortnight after crumbling against Liverpool at the Liberty. Francesco Guidolin is out, former USA national team manager Bob Bradley is in. His appointment has raised eyebrows up and down the country, having joined from Le Havre in France's second tier. Can he be the man to steady the rocking ship in South Wales? The new owners - Bradley's compatriots - will certainly hope so.


Without a win in six games in all competitions, Bradley has work to do, with the Swans hovering precariously above the mire that is the relegation zone.

Good evening and welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of Swansea City's trip to Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium, I'm your correspondent, James Eagles. After the international break, the Premier League returns for its eighth matchday of the 2016/17 season.