Saturday 29 October 2016 12:34, UK
With Sunderland facing Arsenal live on Sky Sports on Saturday, we look at the duel between Jermain Defoe and Laurent Koscielny.
Despite the best efforts of four-goal top scorer Jermain Defoe, Sunderland go into their 10th match of the Premier League season still without a win. The Black Cats host Arsenal at the Stadium of Light in the opening game of the weekend, and Defoe will be keen to end an unwanted run of his own.
It is almost 12 years since Defoe found the net against the Gunners, when he scored for Tottenham in a memorable 5-4 defeat in November 2004. Now 34, Defoe's non-scoring run against Arsenal stretches to 15 Premier League appearances, coming for three different clubs, under seven different managers, and despite 23 attempts at goal.
It makes Arsenal one of Defoe's least favoured opponents in the Premier League. He has only scored twice in 21 top division encounters against the Gunners, and of the 28 teams he has faced for 300 minutes or more in his Premier League career, Defoe only has a poorer minutes-per-goal ratio against Bolton and his former employers Tottenham.
With at least one eye on Defoe, Laurent Koscielny is likely to lead Arsenal's defence at the Stadium of Light. The Gunners' defensive record has been highly impressive in recent weeks, with clean sheets in six of their last seven games in all competitions.
Koscielny has played every minute of the last nine games in the Premier League and Champions League alongside Shkodran Mustafi, helping the £35m summer arrival settle in north London.
Leading the Arsenal defence is nothing new for Koscielny. In six of his seven seasons at the club, the Frenchman has ranked either first or second at the club for clearances, interceptions and blocks. The only exception was the 2012-13 season when injuries restricted him to only 20 Premier League starts.
Koscielny has helped to prevent Defoe from scoring on each of the three occasions they have started Premier League matches against one another.
But despite that fact and his long-running drought against Arsenal, Defoe is still Sunderland's best bet for a goal on Saturday.
Since arriving at the club in January 2015, he is one of only two players to have scored over a third of his team's Premier League goals, along with Harry Kane for Tottenham.
This weekend, history suggests he will need to be at his best.
