Arsenal vs. Sunderland: Preview and viewing info

You know when you were a kid and played random pickup sports in the street? Do kids still do that or are they always in leagues now? Anyway, when a bunch of kids in the neighborhood would get together, appoint captains, and the captains would choose their teams, based on a rough hierarchy of

- Friends first
- Good at the sport second
- weird - but OK at sports - kids third
- desperate loner kids fourth
- me, once everyone else had been picked  I'M NOT BITTER WHY DO YOU ASK

Anyway. Arsenal are so injured right now I think they're down to the desperate loner kids category. They leave behind a November that should have yielded far more than the two points it did, and they also leave Alexis Sanchez, Francis Coquelin, and Santi Cazorla behind in the trainer's room. Kos and Theo are probably available, though, so that's good news.

Sunderland have won their last two games, during which they have not allowed a goal, so whatever attacking power Arsenal have left will be facing a pretty tough task tomorrow. The nice thing is that Sunderland's defense has been horrid away from home, where they've conceded 18 goals in seven. For Sunderland, Sebastion Larsson and Jermaine Defoe are out, but otherwise they're at full strength.

Arsene Wenger says that he's happy to see December, and that all the injuries are "a great challenge to take for the team and a great opportunity to show that we are ready for a fight and we can deal with it". I hope he's right, I hope they do, and I hope December, with its 837 fixtures in the next 27 days, doesn't kill Arsenal. Not metaphorically, literally. Don't die, Arsenal.