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Arsenal to play Stoke City during Asia Trophy in unfriendliest pre-season friendly ever


Stoke City vs Arsenal

Arsenal and Stoke City have been named in the line-up for the 2015 Barclays Asia Trophy

The two sides will clash during the July tournament in Singapore having shared a win apiece during this season's Premier League season.

Arsenal and Stoke have a rich history of disdain for each other with Gunners boss Arsene Wenger regularly lamenting the Potters' physical style of play.

In the two sides' most recent meeting in January Wenger criticised Stoke attacker Marko Arnautovic for pushing Mathieu Debuchy - an incident which led to the Frenchman requring surgery on a dislocated shoulder.

"I just think that Arnautovic had no chance to get the ball. That’s what I mean," he said.

"I don’t think it was malicious but it was not needed because he had no chance to get the ball.

"I am not a specialist and these subjects are always very sensitive because I don’t really know what his intention was. It is difficult. It is not obvious.

"I don’t think he wanted to hurt him but it was not needed."

In February 2010 Wenger, who has masterminded just one win in seven attempts at the Britannia Stadium, was livid after a tackle by Stoke defender Ryan Shawcross left Welshman Aaron Ramsey with a double fracture in his right leg.

"The tackle from Shawcross was horrendous. Spare me how nice he is," Wenger said in a post-match interview.

"To lose a player of quality at 19 like Ramsey is hard to accept. That is not football for me and I refuse to live with it. The FA have to act.

"It was not a tackle you could call committed. A three-match ban is ridiculous.

"We play football and for someone of Ramsey’s talent to be kicked out the game is beyond words."

Roberto Martinez's Everton will also take part in the three-team tournament which Premier League chief Richard Scudamore says will be the "most competitive ever."

"We are very excited to bring the Barclays Asia Trophy to Singapore for the first time," said Scudamore.

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