Arsenal travel to Blackpool on Saturday to kick off their FA Cup campaign for the season at Bloomfield Road.
After dropping out of the League Cup in December, Unai Emery’s side now have a second chance for domestic success with the country’s premium cup competition. Their road to Wembley begins with a trip to Blackpool, who currently sit 10th in League One.
The fixture gives Emery a great opportunity to rest a few stars after a busy Christmas period. Arsenal’s next Premier League game isn’t until January 12th, so any players who don’t feature against Blackpool will get an 11-day rest. Plus, it’s a chance for a couple of young stars and those in the reserves of the squad to show what they can do.
Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the clash.
Goalkeeper and Defence
In goal, Petr Cech should return to the starting lineup, after appearing in Arsenal’s last two cup matches. He’s only played one game in the last month, so this is a good opportunity for him to get back out on the pitch.
Arsenal will likely revert to a back-four, after utilising a back-three at the weekend. Unai Emery still doesn’t have many centre-backs available to choose from right now, so it makes more sense to only play two of them.
Shkodran Mustafi still appears to be struggling with injury, and Emery won’t want to overplay Laurent Koscielny. As a result, Sokratis Papastathopoulos should start, most likely alongside Zech Medley making his full debut. If Konstantinos Mavropanos returns in time, he’s another option, but we’ll have to wait for confirmation on that.
At right-back, Stephan Lichtsteiner should start ahead of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Hector Bellerin, who is still returning from injury. On the left, Sead Kolasinac is still currently the only option, thanks to Nacho Monreal’s absence. There’s a small possibility Carl Jenkinson could fill in, but we expect Emery to opt for Kolasinac.
Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI
Midfield
Aaron Ramsey had to settle for a cameo appearance for the Premier League game at the weekend, but he made the most of it with a goal. He’ll likely start, as speculation of an exit to Juventus continues to grow.
Mohamed Elneny is still struggling to find himself any minutes in the Premier League, so he’ll probably start in this game instead. Alongside the two more established Arsenal stars, Joe Willock will probably get a chance.
Willock made the bench for recent league games against Brighton and Liverpool, as well as starting the club’s final two Europa League group stage matches. It seems Emery is willing to give him opportunities in this sort of game.
Granit Xhaka, Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira should all get a rest for this one, though one or two of them will probably be on the bench.
Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI
Forwards
Unlike many of his teammates, Alexandre Lacazette isn’t really in need of a rest. The last time he completed 90 minutes was in November, and he’s either coming on late or coming off early in every single game recently. There’s no real reason not to give him a game against Blackpool.
Alongside him, we expect a couple of youth stars to get a chance. Bukayo Saka got his first Premier League minutes over the weekend, and he was very impressive recently against FC Vorskla and Qarabag late last year. With Emile Smith Rowe still fighting for fitness, the door is open for Saka to start this one.
On the right, Eddie Nketiah should get a game. The young striker hasn’t played much recently, particularly up front. He shifted out to the right to accommodate Lacazette against Qarabag, which should be the case again on Saturday.
Click ‘Next’ for the full Predicted Starting XI
Predicted Starting XI
