Swansea vs Arsenal

TEAM NEWS

Swansea manager Garry Monk has a full-strength squad to choose from for the visit of Arsenal.

Winger Wayne Routledge has trained this week after a calf problem.

Arsenal's Per Mertesacker returned in midweek after illness but Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain have been ruled out with injuries sustained during the League Cup defeat.

Aaron Ramsey, Mikel Arteta, David Ospina, Jack Wilshere, Danny Welbeck and Tomas Rosicky all remain out.

MOTD COMMENTATOR'S NOTES

Steve Wilson: "Just when you thought Arsenal were primed for an assault on the top of the table, along comes an injury crisis.

"Defeat at Sheffield Wednesday was perhaps less damaging than the injuries to Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott. which have left them without seven midfielders or forwards with games against Bayern Munich and Tottenham coming up.

"Swansea did the double over Arsenal last season, but have been struggling for form. It's hard to claim the win over Aston Villa represented an upturn - the ability to beat Villa is a minimum requirement at the moment.

"But Swansea are dangerous and will be keen to show once again that they're not just 'Arsenal-lite'."

Twitter: @SteveWilson1967 

WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY

Swansea City manager Garry Monk: "Defenders want to keep clean sheets, strikers want to score goals and midfielders wants to make assists and score goals themselves. But it's about the collective here, never about one player.

"The way we've played - and take Aston Villa out of it - most of the games before we haven't performed as a collective. The pressure is on everyone, not one particular person, to perform in every single game."

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, responding to criticism of his medical staff: " I trust my medical staff to do well and my coaching staff to do the fitness planning very well. We have some players who are more injury-prone than others, but we are very well organised on that front.

"We have to analyse every single case and every single exercise, but also I think you have to not over-analyse when players are injured.

"We have not too many muscular injuries but it is post-international games we get all these injuries and is it linked with that? I don't know."

LAWRO'S PREDICTION

I am going to go for a draw in Wales - Arsene Wenger is already without Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, so he will have to keep something back in attack for next week's Champions League game against Bayern Munich.

Lawro's full predictions v England rugby league star Sam Tomkins

• Think you can do better than Lawro? Predict the score for this match and the rest of this round's Premier League fixtures in ourPredictor game.

• MATCH FACTS

  Head-to-head
  • Swansea did the league double over Arsenal last season for the first time since the 1981-82 season.
  • They are undefeated in their last three league meetings with the Gunners (W2, D1).
  Swansea
  • Swansea ended a five-match winless league run with their victory against Aston Villa last weekend.
  • The Swans have not won a home league game since August (D2, L1).
  • They and Arsenal have both hit the woodwork six times in the league this season - more than any other Premier League club.
  • Bafetimbi Gomis has been caught offside 21 times in the Premier League this season, 10 more than any other player.
  • Gylfi Sigurdsson has scored (16) or assisted (14) 30 goals in 60 Premier League appearances for Swansea.
  Arsenal
  • Arsenal have won four consecutive league games, and six of their last seven.
  • They have scored 1999 goals in all competitions under Arsene Wenger.
  • The Gunners have only lost one of their last 11 Premier League away games (W9, D1).
  • Arsenal and opponents Swansea have both used 19 players this season, the fewest in the division.
  • Olivier Giroud has scored in four of his last five appearances for Arsenal in all competitions.
  • Mesut Ozil has provided a league-high seven goal assists this season.