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Next up for the Gunners is a huge game at the Allianz in midweek as they take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Can Arsenal turn their season around? Join us on Wednesday evening to find out. Until then, I've been Matt Dawson, thank you very much for joining us here at VAVEL UK.

Meanwhile Arsenal move up to third and level on points with Spurs, with everyone else still to play this weekend. Gunners fans can be happy at this weekend's result at least. Wenger in? Wenger out? Either way Arsenal secured a much needed three points today.

A rare clean-sheet for Arsenal this season it seems, which will encourage them hugely. Hull City were in the game for large parts of the 90 minutes but couldn't seem to find the clear-cut chance they needed. Marco Silva's men stay in the relegation zone after that defeat.

Not thoroughly convincing from Arsenal but they are back to winning ways, and that's all that matters. It was a tale of two hand balls, which both went the Gunners way. Sanchez handled the ball in for the first goal, albeit not deliberately, and then Clucas' handball gave Wenger's men a late penalty, which Sanchez duly fired home.

FULL TIME: Arsenal 2-0 Hull City.

With that goal Sanchez moves onto 17 Premier League goals for the season, and currently leads the race for the Golden Boot. Indispensable?

Alexis Sanchez adds his second of the game from the penalty spot as he fires hard and low into the net to wrap up the game for Arsenal. Job eventually done for the Gunners. 2-0.

93: GOAL FOR ARSENAL!

Arsenal break decisively and Alexis Sanchez gets ahead of Jakupovic who has come steaming out of his goal. Sanchez has the ball out wide and then dinks it to the back post, where Lucas Perez sees a header blocked on the line by the hands of Sam Clucas. Clattenburg points to the spot and Clucas is SENT OFF.

91: PENALTY TO ARSENAL AND RED CARD!

91: Koscielny heads the corner clear. Sam Clucas then gets the ball back into the area but this time Mustafi heads clear. Arsenal counter.

90: Into the final minute and Hull have a corner.

86: Hull have had plenty of corners in this game but another goes begging. Evandro's delivery finds the head of Diomande but he can't direct it towards goal as the ball flies over the bar.

82: Two subs for Arsenal as Danny Welbeck and Lucas Perez, who perhaps should have started this game, come on for Alex Iwobi and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The latter has had a very encouraging game.

80: Into the final ten minutes now, Arsenal really haven't done enough to try and get a second goal in this game. It's a familiar story for the Gunners, but can they hold on?

79: Evandro's corner finds Niasse at the near post but he can only glance it into the side netting. We're approaching the final ten minutes here. Arsenal fans, are you getting nervous yet?

78: A final sub for Hull as Diomande replaces Huddlestone. A very positive change from Marco Silva.

77: Hull have struggled to create many clear cut opportunities in this game and again they struggle to get any real purchase on this chance too. The ball is floated in but Markovic's header falls in to the arms of Cech.

76: Interesting one this, Alexis Sanchez booked for diving. There was minimal contact with Ranocchia but the Chilean went down far too easily.

72: Mesut Ozil's corner finds the head of Mustafi but his effort bounces harmlessly wide.

70: Andrea Ranocchia now shown a yellow card for bringing down Alexis Sanchez.

69: Now a first change for Arsenal. Theo Walcott, who hasn't had his greatest of games is off, and another man back from the Africa Cup of Nations, Mohamed Elneny is on. Presumably Oxlade-Chamberlain will now go out into a wider role.

66: A second change for Hull as Elmohamady, back from the Africa Cup of Nations, replaces Elabdellaoui.

66: N'Diaye manages to fashion a shooting opportunity from distance but gets it all wrong and skews it wide.

63: This time Sanchez does find his man as he slips in Walcott but his shot is tame and straight at Jakupovic.

62: Oxlade-Chamberlain does brilliantly well to get down the left flank, beating men for pace before finding Sanchez. However his attempted pass is cut out and the chance is gone.

60: First change of the game, and it's for Hull. Evandro comes on in place of Kamil Grosicki.

60: An hour gone and Arsenal almost make it 2-0. Ozil moves to ball into Iwobi with a lovely flicked pass but the Nigerian fires over from the edge of the area.

54: And now Kieran Gibbs is booked, and it could have been a lot worse for the full-back as he bundles down Markovic and is the last man. Luckily for the Gunners Gibbs is only shown yellow, instead of red.

52: Theo Walcott receives the first yellow card of the game. Walcott for some reason loses his temper a little bit, throws the ball in anger after it has gone out of play and then has a bit of a tussle with Harry Maguire. Referee Clattenburg brandishes a caution.

51: Markovic has caused Arsenal problems in this game and he gets down the right hand side before crossing for Niasse, who gets a shot away, and stings the palms of Cech in goal.

47: For now, Coquelin is back on and he looks as though he will be able to run off his injury.

46: Francis Coquelin down at the moment for Arsenal too.

46: Oxlade-Chamberlain surges forward straight away in the second 45 minutes, trying a shot from distance which goes wide.

Back underway for the second half.

I'll be back with more updates in around ten minutes or so. Can Hull City get themselves back into it? They are well in the game.

A scrappy yet intriguing half of football. Hull have looked to take the game to Arsenal when they've got the ball and are perhaps unlucky to be a goal behind at the break. The Gunners however have created plenty of chances and will see their goal as a deserved one.

HALF TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Hull.

A hint of good fortune for that goal too, as the ball actually found the net via the arm of Alexis Sanchez after the ball came off Jakupovic and bounced off the Chilean's hand. It wasn't deliberate but it's given the Gunners the lead nonetheless.

34: I said it was only a matter of time before Arsenal scored and that's exactly what they do. Kieran Gibbs' effort is blocked on the line by Robertson, and the ball is then bundled in by Alexis Sanchez for 1-0.

34: GOAL FOR ARSENAL!

32: Arsenal definitely the better team at the moment, and it is surely only a matter of time before they score. Hull look very nervy at the back but it's still 0-0.

25: Oxlade-Chamberlain pings a lovely ball out wide to Iwobi, who then finds Sanchez. The Chilean crosses into Ozil but he volleys a good chance high and wide.

16: Chances all over the shop here, the next falls to Alexis Sanchez who twelve yards from goal somehow puts his effort wide. The score could be anything right now!

15: Arsenal counter well from the Hull corner and some lovely interchanging passing around the penalty area ends with a chance for Bellerin, but he slices his effort wide at the end of it.

14: Good chance for Hull as Grosicki puts a lovely ball into Oumar Niasse in the box but his header is saved by Cech, and out for a corner.

10: Very open game so far as Lazar Markovic sprints down the right hand side and it should be 1-0 to Hull. Niasse is in the area but doesn't get across the six yard box which is where Markovic's cross is played into and the chance goes begging.

9: Alexis Sanchez then gets an opportunity but puts it straight at Jakupovic.

8: Hull almost gift Arsenal the opening goal as Huddlestone tries a pass across the pitch but Ozil gets onto it but he and Alex Iwobi can't quick work a chance.

6: Well I said Arsenal had got off to a relatively quick start but Coquelin has just smacked the ball out of play trying to find Theo Walcott on the right flank.

2: All the talk was about Arsenal needing to get off to a quick start and they come close to exposing Hull straight away. Alex Iwobi manages to get in behind and then pull the ball back, but Alexis Sanchez, who the ball eventually falls to can't find room to work an opening. The same can then be said for Mesut Ozil who found the ball on the edge of the area.

KICK-OFF: We are underway at the Emirates.

The camera pans to a 'WENGER STAYS' sign in the crowd. Make your mind up Arsenal fans! Anyway, the players are in the tunnel.

We are moments away from kick-off, the Gunners desperately need a win to improve the mood around the camp. They'll be hoping they can end their poor run today.

Seems a very cold day in North London, snow lightly falling around the Emirates.

Just over 20 minutes to go now until kick-off. Will Arsenal find some form, or will Hull offer up another surprise after last week's victory? Stay tuned to find out.

It will of course be a sad day once Wenger leaves English football, but many Arsenal fans think it's for the best at the moment. This season seems to have been the extreme tipping point for many Gunners supporters. It was certainly a surprise to see Wright come out and say those words though.

Wright said: "I was with boss [Wenger] last night and if I'm going to be totally honest, I get the impression that that's it. I was with him for a few hours last night and he didn't say he was leaving at the end of the season but I get the impression just by looking at him, that's it. He actually mentioned that he's coming to the end, I've never heard him say that."

Arsene Wenger is serving the last of his four match touchline ban today, but former Gunner Ian Wright came out with some interesting comments last night, suggesting it could well be the last year of Wenger's reign.

Hull have made two changes from their win over Liverpool last week. Oumar Niasse and Lazar Markovic replace Evandro and Abel Hernandez.

Just the one change for Arsenal then as Kieran Gibbs replaces Nacho Monreal at left back. Bellerin has been passed fit after sustaining concussion against Chelsea last weekend. Oxlade-Chamberlain resumes his place in central midfield, whilst the likes of Lucas and Danny Welbeck are among the substitutes.

Hull City starting XI: Jakupovic, Elabdellaoui, Ranocchia, Maguire, Robertson, Huddlestone, N'Diaye, Markovic, Grosicki, Clucas, Niasse. Subs: Marshall, Elmohamady, Tymon, Maloney, Meyler, Evandro, Diomande.

Arsenal starting XI: Cech, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Gibbs, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi, Sanchez. Subs: Ospina, Monreal, Gabriel, Elneny, Lucas, Welbeck, Giroud.

We're just under an hour until kick off, and we can now reveal today's line-ups.

Anyway, I'll be back with more an hour before kick off when we should have confirmation of the team's official line-ups.

Wenger mentions there that Arsenal doing well is important. That will surely mean sustaining a title challenge, something they haven't been able to do again this season. “It’s never over - we cannot behave like that. Even if you think it is, I don’t. We cannot even think like that. The way we respond to our disappointing result last Saturday is vital. If it is over for us, it’s over for everybody else. We are all together in a pack there, so first we have to focus on staying at the top, then if we can reduce the distance between us and Chelsea after, you never know," Wenger said.

It was rumoured in the week that Wenger had been offered a new two year deal to stay at the club. He had the following to say about his future, "Once again, thank you for caring about my future, but that’s not the most important thing. My future is in front of me every time I make a half-turn. What is important for me is that Arsenal Football Club does well."

Silva knows Arsenal better than some may think, his last trip to the Emirates resulted in a 3-2 win for his Olympiakos team in the Champions League as the Greek side shocked the Gunners. A good omen perhaps?

Marco Silva has meanwhile had his say on this weekend's clash, urging his side to forget about last week and focus on Arsenal. "Of course last weekend was important because we won three points. We take those points but now we forget the game because in my mind, all we do now is prepare for the match against Arsenal. It is a new match and we need to continue to do our work to progress our performances. The same spirit, the same attitude and the same team performance need to be shown. We are playing against a really big team in this league again this weekend and they have fantastic players," he said.

If we look back at previous meetings, Hull City haven't beaten Saturday's hosts since 2008, when goals from Geovanni and Daniel Cousin sealed a 2-1 win. The most notable of recent games between the two was of course the FA Cup final in 2014, when Arsenal went 2-0 down inside the first ten minutes of the game, before winning 3-2 in extra time. The Gunners will be hoping that this encounter is far more straight forward.

Elneny's Egyptian colleague Ahmed Elmohamady is also back from AFCON for Hull and could feature against the Gunners. Lazar Markovic was ineligible against his parent club Liverpool last weekend and will come back into the squad for Hull. Abel Hernandez is out with a hamstring injury whilst Michael Dawson is also out injured, with a calf problem. Dieumerci Mbokani is struggling through illness and could miss the trip to North London. The likes of Curtis Davies and Ryan Mason are still out.

Xhaka however is still suspended for this game and will therefore miss the game, as will Arsene Wenger who is likewise enduring a four match suspension. Mohamed Elneny is back in the Arsenal side after returning from the Africa Cup of Nations where Egypt lost the final. Hector Bellerin meanwhile is still undergoing tests after coming off against Chelsea with a head injury. Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey remain out injured too.

The last time the two sides met Arsenal comfortably beat the Tigers 4-1, at the KCOM Stadium back in September. Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring in the first half, before Theo Walcott added a second ten minutes into the second half. Robert Snodgrass' 79th minute penalty had the potential to make it a nervy ending but Sanchez scored again minutes later before Granit Xhaka scored a marvelous long range effort.

Both Arsenal and Hull come into today's game off of very different results. The Gunners blew probably their last chance to get back into the title race last weekend, with defeat to Chelsea. Meanwhile Hull, who seem rejuvenated under boss Marco Silva boosted their chances of survival by impressively beating Liverpool. Could we witness another similar display from them at the Emirates this weekend? Time will tell.

Hello and welcome to VAVEL UK's live minute-by-minute text commentary of today's early fixture between Arsenal and Hull at the Emirates Stadium. This afternoon's game is due to kick off at 12.30 so grab some lunch, or late breakfast and sit yourself on the sofa in the company of VAVEL and myself, Matt Dawson, as I talk you through today's game. Thanks for joining us.

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About the author
Matt Dawson
Sports journalist at the University of Huddersfield. Cover Arsenal and the WSL.