good morning. If you want today to be the start of the week, it’s going to be a hell of a few days for Arsenal.
Today they face Man United in the third round of the FA Cup, followed by the North London derby on Wednesday and the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday. So if the team looks a little weird today, it’s probably because of the next two games. The problem, of course, is trying to find the balance between rotating a little and getting the results you want. Because, let’s make no mistake, this is a competition we need to win, especially after the disappointment of Newcastle in midweek.
The FA Cup was Mikel Arteta’s only silver medal to date and he will be keen to repeat that success. In the run-up to this game, Arteta was asked a rather strange question whether dropping out of the FA Cup would give his team the chance to go on a mid-season break, and Arteta was blunt in his response.
we want to be in the FA Cup
I haven’t been particularly lucky with draws in recent years. After losing 1-0 to Nottingham Forest in 2022, they drew with Man City in the fourth round after beating Oxford, and faced Liverpool in the third round last season. It was a game they probably should have won, but they had a bit of a goal-scoring failure before their trip to Dubai, and two late goals meant they were eliminated early in the game.
I don’t think you can say we didn’t take the FA Cup seriously, but the record still needs to be set straight. However, in typical fashion, we have a big opponent going into this game with increased confidence from our result and performance against Liverpool last week. United’s season has been a mixed bag so far, but they have a smart new manager who has spent plenty of time preparing the team for this game, so it’s going to be a tough one.
When it comes to rotation, Arteta is rotating from game to game rather than prioritizing one competition over another. he says:
I think we’ve rotated the squad for various reasons, but considering the number of games and the level of players, we’ll have to continue rotating. Therefore, I don’t see any conflicts. It’s about momentum, it’s about feeling, it’s about what we need in that situation to give ourselves the best chance to win. Therefore, my choices are based on that, not competition.
Actually, there’s not much he can do today. Players who were not used in midweek’s Carabao Cup, such as Riccardo Calafioli and Mikel Merino, may come into this match ‘fresh’, creating a functional combination of players up front. I will find out. If Kai Havertz is up front, I wouldn’t be averse to seeing Gabriel Martinelli on the left and Gabriel Jesus on the right. He has played there many times in his career and if Martinelli or Leandro Trossard play there, he might offer something different.
Other than that, I don’t see many ways to change or rotate. Without Ethan Nwaneri and Bukayo Saka, we are pretty limited. Perhaps today is the day things start to fall into place for Raheem Sterling if we need him, but the ideal scenario is – in his honor – the players we have It’s about doing the job. As I said earlier, I think this will be a difficult match. It’s like a free hit for United to come in as underdogs and just give it a go. Even if we lose, it’s just one small thing on a list of many big things that need to be right at this point. With so many away fans in attendance, there could be an incredible draw and atmosphere in a cup match.
However, after a disappointing midweek performance and result, we need to step up even more today. I don’t want to talk about how we have to reflect and fight again on Wednesday, so hopefully we can deliver, especially in front of goal, and maybe if we get through, we can get a kind fourth-round draw. We might get one (probably Brazil in 1970, but oh well).
As always, you can follow the match on the Arseblog live blog. Then check out Arseblog News for reports, player ratings, reactions, goal clips and more.
Sorry, I’ll see you later for the game. Hey, all you guys in red wearing white!
