Arsenal face Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday, coming off the back of a league victory over Chelsea.

Arsenal’s form has been very inconsistent recently, with defeats to West Ham and Liverpool, but wins against Chelsea, Fulham and Blackpool. They looked very good beating Maurizio Sarri’s side last Saturday though, and they’ll be hoping to carry that momentum into the cup.

Meanwhile, Manchester United are on a run of seven straight wins under new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Many of those games were against opposition they’d expect to beat, like Reading, Cardiff and Huddersfield. However, they did also grind out a win away to Tottenham Hotspur, so Solskjaer has passed his first real test at the club.

As a result, Unai Emery will need to pick a strong side if he hopes to progress to the next round of the cup. To bet on the game, check out this list of trusted bookies.

Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the clash.

1Goalkeeper and Defence

LONDON, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 19: Petr Cech of Arsenal during the Carabao Cup Quarter Final match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspurat Emirates Stadium on December 19, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 19: Petr Cech of Arsenal during the Carabao Cup Quarter Final match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at Emirates Stadium on December 19, 2018, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Arsenal will certainly make one change in defence. Hector Bellerin’s unfortunate injury means he’ll have to miss out for either Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Carl Jenkinson or Stephan Lichtsteiner. All three played in the previous round against Blackpool, but we predict Maitland-Niles will be selected on this occasion.

The 21-year-old has appeared in Arsenal’s last 10 games, and he appears to be preferred over Lichtsteiner right now, who didn’t even make the squad that faced Chelsea.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Laurent Koscielny formed a formidable partnership against Chelsea, and it would be a surprise to see either of them drop out of the team on Friday. Shkodran Mustafi will likely have to settle for a spot on the bench again.

Similarly, Sead Kolasinac will probably keep his place on the left, as he continues to be Emery’s preferred choice, even now that Nacho Monreal is back from injury.

Bernd Leno will probably drop out of the team, as he’s usually only utilised in the league games. With Emi Martinez seemingly going out on loan to Reading, that leaves Petr Cech to start the match in goal.

Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

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