Team News: Olivier Giroud up front for Arsenal

Olivier Giroud starts up front for Arsenal as Arsene Wenger makes four changes for this evening's trip to Stoke City.

A win tonight would see the Gunners close the gap on fourth-placed Liverpool to just one point and Giroud is picked to lead the line ahead of Danny Welbeck, who drops to the bench following the 2-0 win at Southampton on Wednesday night.

Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez continue to provide attacking support for the Frenchman in a 3-4-2-1 formation.

Laurent Koscielny returns to the fold at left-back after missing the trip to the south coast with a calf problem, with Rob Holding on the left of the back three and Shkodran Mustafi continuing at centre.

Hector Bellerin is back in the lineup and is deployed as a right winger, with Nacho Monreal on the left. Francis Coquelin joins up with Granit Xhaka in the middle of the park with Aaron Ramsey dropping to the bench and Kieran Gibbs missing out on the matchday squad.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is also absent due to a calf injury.

For the hosting Potters, Mark Hughes makes just one alteration from the side that claimed a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth last weekend, bringing in Erik Pieters for Marc Muniesa at left-back.

Mame Biram Diouf continues to lead the line, with Peter Crouch and Jonathan Walters options on the bench.

Marko Arnautovic and Xherdan Shaqiri provide attacking support, with Glenn Whelan, Geoff Cameron and Joe Allen in midfield.

Glen Johnson continues at right-back, while Bruno Martins Indi and skipper Ryan Shawcross are at the heart of the defence and Jack Butland is between the sticks.

Stoke City: Butland; Johnson, Shawcross, Martins Indi, Pieters; Whelan, Cameron, Allen; Arnautovic, Shaqiri; Diouf Subs: Grant; Muniesa, Berahino, Adam, Walters, Crouch, Ramadan

Arsenal: Cech; Holding, Mustafi, Koscielny; Bellerin, Coquelin, Xhaka, Monreal; Ozil, Sanchez; Giroud Subs: Ospina, Gabriel, Elneny, Ramsey, Walcott, Iwobi, Welbeck

Keep up with all of the action from the Emirates this evening with Sports Mole's live text commentary here.