The Arsenal Gunners and QPR are playing on the Boxing Day English Premier League schedule on Friday after Christmas and the match from Emirates Stadium is on the NBC Sports Network and streaming online from the NBCSN Live Extra website at 12:30 pm ET as Arsene Wenger and Alexis Sanchez get things going.
Arsenal is coming in looking to move up on the Premier League table and they are in the eighth spot right now and that is not satisfying for Wenger. The team was in top position last year at this time and now they come into Boxing Day looking to keep things moving in the right direction. The Gunners have had success under Wenger on Boxing Day and they are looking to do that once again and QPR should be an easy opponent on the schedule.
The Hoops will not have to face off against Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey and that is a nice advantage for the team, but the Gunners have enough to make up for that. Arsenal has only lost once on Boxing Day since the EPL started up and last year they won against West Ham. The team has played against QPR before on Boxing Day and they come in looking to keep things going. QPR comes in after a comeback win against West Brom on the road from two goals.
The Gunners have played well at home this season and QPR comes in having won all their points at home and Arsenal has lost just once at Emirates this year. Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud will both be fit for the match and this gives the team the chance to try and win four out of the last five matchups against QPR. Arsenal won both games last season and the Gunners come in having only lost once in the last seven matches over all competitions, including five wins in that time.
Arsenal has 11 wins on Boxing Day and five draws with one loss and they have the chance to keep things going in the right direction, as QPR has only earned one point away this year. Arsenal comes in after a draw with Liverpool and before that they won over Newcastle and now they have QPR before playing against West Ham and Southampton. Arsenal has a big matchup with Manchester City and Tottenham after that on the schedule and that gives the team a chance to make a move on the EPL table.
