Can Mike Dean prove he is not against Arsenal?

Arsenal fans and players are expecting a tough game and a physical battle when Stoke come to the Emirates tomorrow. It mat be a different style of football to that which Arsenal prefer to plat, but it takes all sorts and that is part and parcel of the English game. I am not going to denigrate the Potters for playing to their strengths, but all we ask is for the game to be refereed fairly and that Stoke are not allowed to overstep the mark. Bad news then, because our old friend Mike Dean is going to be in charge. The statistics of Arsenal’s win percentage when Mr. Dean is the man in black speak for themselves, and they do not look good. He sent Jack Wilshere and Laurent Koscielny off last season against the two Manchester clubs and he once seemed to celebrate Saha scoring a goal for Tottenham against us, but I am giving him the benefit of the doubt. Premier League referees are under more scrutiny than ever at the minute after Mark Halsey’s shocking revelation of his texting relationship with Alex Ferguson, so I expect they will all be focused on being scrupulously fair. Also, the last time he took charge of a Gunners match, we won it. Before that, we had won just one of the 17 matches he had refereed. Maybe that statistic was arousing too much suspicion and someone had a little word. I am going to assume that some of his poor decisions in the past have just been mistakes and hope the law of averages means that we are due some luck off him tomorrow. However, if we get stitched up again, I will not be so forgiving.