CAN ARSENAL DELIVER?

Arsenal are not just a football club. They have become a verb, an adjective, a damning accusation. Less than two weeks ago, Arsenal were so very Arsenal as they out Arsenalled themselves.

They dominated possession, created chances, missed them, conceded goals in predictably embarrassing fashion and lost to a rival. Manchester United’s victory at the Emirates Stadium brought suggestions that it might be the end of an era for Arsene Wenger.

What followed was very Arsenal, too. Whenever they seem on the brink of crisis, they rally. They illustrate that the idea they were in meltdown was a hysterical overreaction. Three wins and three clean sheets against Borussia Dortmund, West Brom and Southampton amount to an emphatic response. Rather than going into freefall, they have climbed back up the table.

In its own way, it was entirely typical. And this is the Arsenal paradox. Despite the stereotype of a team with mental frailties, they have won plenty of pressure games over the years. Those 18 successive top-four finishes and the 15 consecutive years they have qualified from the Champions League group stage have included many a must-win match and incorporated hundreds of nail-biting moments.

The general theme is that Arsenal invariably lose to Chelsea, Manchester City, United and whoever they face in the Champions League knockout stages but can beat almost everyone else. But there is an exception. Stoke. Or, to be precise, Stoke away.

If Wenger is to fulfil his ambition of regaining the title in the next three years, Saturday's clash is precisely the sort of fixture they need to prove they can win. Chelsea triumphed at the Britannia Stadium in 2009-10 and Carlo Ancelotti’s side became champions. United won on Stoke soil in 2008-09, 2010-11 and 2012-13. Each season finished with Sir Alex Ferguson celebrating.

But Arsenal have only ever won once at the Britannia and it certainly didn’t feel like a victory. They were too concerned by Aaron Ramsey’s horrific leg break in 2010 to really enjoy Cesc Fabregas and Thomas Vermaelen’s late goals. Otherwise it has been a familiar pattern of draws and defeats, of long balls, long throws and long faces.