The Arsenal boss has stayed true to his word about treating the FA cup semi-final today with all due care and attention, despite the fact that our Wembley opponents Reading are only a Championship club and a mid-table one at that.
So Arsene Wenger has resisted the temptation to make quite a few changes to the Arsenal starting line up that has done so well for us since the turn of the year. The main talking points are Debuchy starting ahead of Bellerin, the inclusion of Szczesny in goal and the replacement of Welbeck for Giroud in the centre forward position.
So the rest of the big names like Ozil, Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla and Coquelin all start, which will be good news for Gooners dreaming of a second successive year of celebrating the famous trophy. Reading have some pace and threat in their own attacking line up though, so our first choice pairing in central defence will have to be on their toes.
Of the other players coming back from their respective spells on the sidelines through injury, only our England international midfielder Jack Wilshere has made the squad, which once again highlights just how seriously the manager is taking this game. Hopefully his players will do the same.
Szczesny
Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs
Coquelin
Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla, Ozil
Welbeck
subs : Ospina, Gabriel, Monreal, Flamini, Wilshere, Walcott, Giroud
Arsenal have no specialist right back on the bench and I hope we don’t regret it and I hope it doesn’t mean that Bellerin has a problem. Let’s make sure that all the action is at the other end of the pitch to our goal and it won’t matter. COYG