The confirmed teams have finally been announced to take on Blackpool this evening, for Unai Emery’s first FA Cup tie as Gunners boss.
He will be keen to see some youngsters take their chance against the lower league side, while hoping his team can build up their confidence once more after some tough fixtures over the past month, including some painful losses to rivals Tottenham and Liverpool.
Earlier we predicted the team below to take on the Seasiders at Bloomfield Road:
Cech
Maitland-Niles Elneny Sokratis Kolasinac
Guendouzi Smith-Rowe
Saka Willock NKetieh
Lacazette
Confirmed teams as found on Arsenal’s official Twitter page:
As you can see we were expecting Emery to take a much more relaxed approach when it comes to the starting line-up, but we still firmly expect Saka to make it onto the pitch at some point, and I hope he does manage to impress.
I can’t wait to see the Nketiah try and continue to make his mark on the competition after goals last term, and am quite excited to see Joe Willock try to earn a place in Emery’s first-team thoughts as the season continues.
Smith-Rowe hasn’t made the squad although he has now returned to training, but it is nice to see Emery taking the competition seriously, and this team should give poor Blackpool a beating.
Is there any doubt that Blackpool are in for a beating? Does this team mean that Emery will be taking no prisoners as he looks to win a trophy this season?
Pat J