It’s a clash between two third place sides, with Arsenal hosting Burnley at the Emirates on Saturday in the fourth round of the FA Cup. The Gunners dropped a couple of places after the loss to Chelsea last weekend at home, while the Clarets are themselves fighting for a return to the Premier League. The home side are looking to capture their third consecutive FA Cup title, after winning it twice in the last couple of seasons.
Arsene Wenger’s side have been playing well at home in the current campaign and the French manager will once again hope for a strong solid performance from his side. On the other hand, the visitors will want to make a game out of it and will not give up too easily. The north London side have just lost once in their last five games in all competitions, while Sean Dyche’s side are unbeaten in the same number of games.
Team News:
Per Mertesacker, who was sent off against the Blues for his late challenge as he tried to stop Diego Costa from scoring will serve his suspension in this game and will not be available for selection. Further, a couple of players who could be fit in time to make a return to the squad will be Francis Coquelin and Tomas Rosicky. It will be interesting to see if Wenger decides to risk playing either one of them in this cup tie. Arsenal still have Danny Welbeck, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere injured apart from them, who will certainly miss this game.
On the other hand, the visitors have their stars like Ashley Barnes, Matt Gilks and Lukas Jutkiewicz out injured and will miss the game. Also, Andre Gray is a doubt for the game and it remains to be seen whether he makes an appearance in the game or not. The away side will have to be at their best in this game, if they want to seriously pose a challenge against the holders.
Predicted lineups:
Arsenal:
Ospina; Gabriel, Koscielny, Chambers, Gibbs; Elneny, Arteta, Campbell, Ramsey, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Giroud.
Burnley:
Heaton; Mee, Keane, Ward, Lowton; Jones, Barton, Boyd, Arfield; Gray, Vokes.
Key Battles:
Giroud vs Keane:
Olivier Giroud was taken off in the game against Chelsea and was not really happy after Mertesacker’s sending off to add Gabriel as cover at the back. The Frenchman should start in this one and will really want to impress in the game, as he will try to score some goals for his side at home. Burnley center-back Michael Keane, who was previously with Manchester United will have the responsibility to keep the striker quiet and it should be an intense battle this one.
Gabriel vs Vokes:
The Brazilian centre-back came to fill in the void left by Mertesacker, who is suspended for this one as a result of his red card. He should start this game in the absence of the tall German defender and will be expected to deal with any sort of threat provided by Burnley. Mainly, he will have to deal with Vokes and his team-mates, though it might not really be too difficult on the night, based on how the Gunners play.