West Bromwich Albion vs Arsenal Preview

Tony Pulis has aimed friendly fire at Football Associations and insisted they should cover the costs for his international stars.

The West Brom boss believes the governing bodies should pay the players’ wages while they are with their countries for friendly games.

James Chester played 90 minutes in Wales’ 3-2 defeat to Holland while Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley also played the full game as Northern Ireland beat Latvia 1-0 last week.

Pulis has been a long-standing critic of international breaks and labelled friendlies as a ‘waste of space’ this month.

And, ahead of Saturday’s visit of Arsenal, the Baggies chief has questioned whether the respective FAs should pay for taking players.

He said: “If you went to all the FAs and said that for friendly matches, you’re going to pay the wages for two weeks, and if they get injured you’re going to cover those injuries, and if they never play again you cover the insurance, let’s see how many friendly games are played then.

“My argument is that at this time of the year there are lots of games. They have played lots of games. For Gareth McAuley to go away and play for Northern Ireland when he is 35 years of age and plays every game for us, then plays another 90 minutes for his country – I am not so sure as a manager I would do that.

“I’m not criticising the manager of Northern Ireland (Michael O’Neill), that’s his responsibility to do what he wants.”

McAuley is banned for the Gunners’ visit while Ben Foster remains out with a long-term knee injury having been sidelined since March but Chris Brunt should be available despite pulling out of Northern Ireland’s squad with a groin problem. Chester and Jonas Olsson are in line to replace McAuley.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says no Barclays Premier League opponent can be underestimated and the table is an irrelevance ahead of matches.

The Gunners, who sit level on points with leaders Manchester City, go into Saturday’s match at West Brom after winning eight and losing two of their opening 12 Premier League games this season.

Wenger will demand his injury-plagued team, who are 12 points ahead of the Baggies, are at their best at The Hawthorns to earn another victory.

“You don’t even look at the table anymore because you know what you get,” Wenger said.

“The difference between the teams has narrowed and that today it’s more how close you can be to your best that will decide the result than the team you play against.”

Wenger will assess Laurent Koscielny and Olivier Giroud’s readiness to play after the pair’s involvement for France during the international break, when terrorists struck in coordinated attacks in Paris.

Wenger says defender Koscielny, in particular, appeared affected in Tuesday’s match with England at Wembley.

Right-back Hector Bellerin is available following a groin problem, but midfielders Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Aaron Ramsey (both hamstring) remain out this weekend and forward Theo Walcott (calf) is not expected back for “one or two weeks”.

Odds: W.B.A 6/1 Draw 10/3 Arsenal 8/15

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions

Last time they met: Arsenal 4-1 West Brom

Prediction: W.B.A 1:3 Arsenal

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Barclays Premier League:

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