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.
3Forwards
There shouldn’t be any doubt over two of Arsenal’s front three, after Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s performances against Chelsea. Lacazette scored the opening goal for The Gunners, and Aubameyang put in a massive shift for the team throughout the 90 minutes, even if it’s a couple of games since his last goal.
The third spot is more difficult to predict. If Emery goes with one centre-forward and two wide players, one of those wide options could be Alex Iwobi, but that seems unlikely. Instead, the head coach will probably play Lacazette and Aubameyang as a strike partnership again, with a number 10 in behind.
Mesut Özil is still yet to make it back into the Arsenal team after his injury, and Ramsey put in such a good performance against Chelsea that he’ll probably get the nod again on this occasion. The Welshman also started against United last month, only failing to complete the match thanks to an injury.
Click ‘Next’ for the full Predicted Starting XI