Morning all.
It’s going to be a very quick blog this morning because it’s an early kick off and it almost feels like a waste of words. We’re facing League One side Mansfield Town in the FA Cup 5th round, and you would expect some rotation from Mikel Arteta today.
That said, there aren’t exactly a load of options at the back, or in midfield. Myles Lewis-Skelly, who would undoubtedly have played, is apparently suspended after picking up two yellow cards in previous rounds. Ben White is still injured, it’d be mad to risk William Saliba, and while Christian Norgaard has played in defence before, he’s probably needed for midfield. So, quite what he does back there remains to be seen – perhaps a start for Marli Salmon, but chances are he’s going to have timeshare some minutes with players he’d ideally not want to use.
Further forward, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Jesus, and Kai Havertz will likely start, and there’s talk of other young players being involved today, which might even mean Max Dowman coming into the side. The schedule has been so hectic, I can fully understand the desire to rest everyone, but the numbers don’t fully stack up with the likes of Martin Odegaard and Mikel Merino sidelined. That said, if Arteta is on the phone this morning to see if Steve and Steve’s mate can play, I won’t complain. This is your big chance, Steve!
Speaking about this one, and his team being favourites, the manager said:
I think I’ve been in this country long enough to understand that being favourites doesn’t mean anything when it comes to that competition. At that time of the day, in that ground, I know that they’re going to have the belief, the hope, the conviction that they can beat us, and we need to be very well prepared.
We’ve been knocked out a few times in a difficult way, and it’s a terrible feeling. It feels like it damages your reputation. So, you don’t want to go through that. In order not to go through that, you have to prepare so well and compete so well.
I don’t know anything at all about Mansfield Town other than they’re managed by Nigel Clough, son of Brian, but away from home, with the Premier League leaders visiting, I think we expect a fairly vigorous cup tie, so let’s see what happens.
As ever, we’ll have live blog coverage for you, and all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News. Catch you later!
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