The last meeting between Arsenal and Stoke City is of course remembered for reasons ultimately far removed from the result, as it was at the Britannia Stadium in February where prodigal midfielder Aaron Ramsey suffered a severe double leg break under a challenge from Ryan Shawcross, from which he has only just recovered.
No doubt the home fans at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday will greet every Shawcross touch of the ball with jeers, but Wenger has insisted his players at least will not be trying to reciprocate Ramsey's injury, stating his squad will merely treat the game like any other.
And it is a crucial one for Arsenal to win following their 1-0 defeat against Manchester United on Monday, which saw the Gunners relinquish their lead at the top of the table to Sir Alex Ferguson's side thanks to a lone Ji-Sung Park goal.
Looking To Bounce Back
Stoke, meanwhile, are on a decent run of form which has only been halted by an arguably surprising 1-0 defeat at the Britannia Stadium to new boys Blackpool - their first loss in an impressive six games.
Tony Pulis' side are always billed to be keen to ruffle the feathers of Wenger's free-flowing, expressive charges, but despite their reputation of being somewhat of a 'bogey' team for Saturday's opponents, the Potters have beaten them just once in their four Premier League meetings, on the Gunners' first visit to the Britannia in 2008.
TEAM NEWS
Arsenal
Wojciech Szczesny looks set to continue in goal as Lukasz Fabianski and Manuel Almunia continue to recover from injury.
Abou Diaby is nearing a return but will not feature on Saturday, while Nicklas Bendtner's wife is in labour so he is unlikely to feature.
Cesc Fabregas and Robin van Persie are both available but may continue on the bench as they near full fitness.
Possible starting XI: Szczesny; Sagna, Squillaci, Koscielny, Clichy; Walcott, Song, Wilshere, Nasri; Arshavin, Chamakh.
Stoke
Salif Diao could return for Tony Pulis's men following a calf injury, but may not be fit enough to force his way into the manager's thinking for this game.
Striker Mamady Sidibe is expected to recover from a long term leg problem in January but not before, and so Stoke may be unchanged from the side that lost to Blackpool last week.
Possible starting XI: Begovic; Wilkinson, Huth, Shawcross, Collins; Pennant, Whitehead, Delap, Etherington; Jones, Fuller.
Prediction
Arsenal should be able to get the better of a difficult Stoke side to secure their fourth consecutive league win against the visitors, even if it doesn't always make for comfortable viewing.
Arsenal 2-1 Stoke 
