Arsenal have been handed a fantastic bonus and a great chance to defend the FA cup trophy we won in that dramatic Wembley final back in May last year, with the magic of the cup waving it’s wand and getting rid of Chelsea, Man City and Tottenham for us in a crazy day of cup shocks.
But yesterday was also a warning to big clubs like us that we should not take anything for granted. Hopefully the players will have taken this and previous warnings from Arsene Wenger fully on board and will make sure that there are no shocks at the Amex Stadium in Brighton today.
But if Brighton were looking for any inspiration, the Arsenal team sheet may have given it to them, with the boss leaving our three best players of recent weeks on the bench. So Walcott, Ozil and Flamini come in for Alexis, Cazorla and Coquelin, while Wojciech Szczesny comes back into the starting line-up as well/ I assume there is a problem with Ospina because it is Martinez who is the reserve keeper today.
It is still a strong side that the Gunners will start with and I can see why Wenger has given the overworked Mertesacker a rare day off and also agree that Rosicky and Chambers deserve their chance to play. I just hope that we do not add to the number of FA cup shocks on this crazy weekend.
Szczesny
Chambers, Koscielny, Monreal, Gibbs
Flamini, Ramsey, Rosicky
Walcott, Giroud, Ozil
subs: Martinez, Mertesacker, Bellerin, Coquelin, Cazorla, Alexis, Akpom
Come On You Gunners! Win this and we will be the red hot favourites to make it two FA cup wins in a row.