If the match goes ahead, Arsenal face a change of competition in the run-up to Christmas with a Carabao Cup quarter-final against Sunderland at the Emirates on Tuesday evening.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 16: Vlad Dragomir of Arsenal scores his sides first goal during the Premier League 2 match between Arsenal and Sunderland at Emirates Stadium on October 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 16: Vlad Dragomir of Arsenal scores his sides first goal during the Premier League 2 match between Arsenal and Sunderland at Emirates Stadium on October 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by James Chance/Getty Images)

Sunderland forward, Ross Stewart views his side’s tie at Arsenal as something of a ‘free-hit’, although he is coming to London in the hopes of causing an upset.

“I’m definitely hoping to play,” said Stewart.

“It’s a bit of a glamour tie for us and takes the focus away from the league fixtures which is good.

“With it being up in the air what is going on with Covid we can only wait and see but we’ll prepare for the game to be on.

“We’ll go there as huge underdogs and it’s a bit of a free hit, but at the same time we will go there with the belief that we can go there and win the tie.

“It’s a tough game but one I’m sure there will be a right buzz for.

LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 16: Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal celebrates scoring his sides second goal with Mesut Ozil of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Sunderland at Emirates Stadium on May 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – MAY 16: Alexis Sanchez of Arsenal celebrates scoring his sides second goal with Mesut Ozil of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal and Sunderland at Emirates Stadium on May 16, 2017 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

“It will be different [being underdogs], obviously it’s not happened often this year maybe other than at QPR.

“It can go one of two ways and even though we are underdogs we have to believe we can get a result, if we play with that freedom and belief I think we can hurt Arsenal at times.

“Obviously we are going to spend long periods without the ball so we are going to have to be hard to break down and be compact as a team. If we can do that, maybe we can catch them with a set-piece.

“I think when the tie came there was a lot of talk but our focus has gone back to the league which is the bread and butter for us.

“We have played a lot of games between the tie being made and tomorrow, so there actually hasn’t been a lot of talk and we have been focused on the league which is a good thing.

“We have shown with our results as well but certainly now we will start to look towards it and I’m sure we will be ready to go.

“If it’s on, it will be a cracking tie and hopefully we can get the fans down because I thought they were excellent at Ipswich on Saturday in their numbers.

“Credit to them they made a great noise.”

Arsenal last played Sunderland on 17 May 2017 when they won 2-0 at the Emirates against the already relegated Black Cats. It was a match that the Gunners struggled in, but the win ensured the race for top four went down to the final round of matches.

The two sides have met 153 times before, with Arsenal winning 62, Sunderland winning 50 and 41 draws.

Arsenal last lost to Sunderland in February, 2012, when they were dumped out of the FA Cup 2-0.

This will be the sides’ fourth meeting in the league cup with Arsenal winning two of the previous three.