Arsenal welcome Manchester United to the Emirates Stadium for Sunday’s FA Cup third round tie between two of the competition’s most successful outfits.
Record 14-time winners Arsenal last lifted the FA Cup during Mikel Arteta’s first season at the helm but have struggled to progress in the competition since. They haven’t reached the fifth round in any of the previous four campaigns.
United, meanwhile, claimed their 13th FA Cup against the odds last season by defeating superior neighbours Manchester City in the final. That success, though, merely delayed Erik ten Hag’s sacking and ensured their 2024/25 campaign got off to a wretched start.
Successor Ruben Amorim has quickly gauged the size of the job at his disposal, and United enter Sunday’s game five games without a win. However, there were signs of vast improvement last weekend during their 2-2 draw at Liverpool just as narratives surrounding potential relegation started to surface.
Arsenal head into this cup tie having lost the first leg of their Carabao Cup semi-final to Newcastle 2-0.
Arteta went strong in midweek, and there’s bound to be some rotation with the North London Derby upcoming.
We should see summer arrivals Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino come into the XI having failed to come on against Newcastle. Jakub Kiwior should also get the nod to offer Gabriel some respite.
Neto is in line to make his first start for the club following his loan arrival, while Raheem Sterling is back in contention having recovered from a knee injury.
Bukayo Saka, Ethan Nwaneri, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White are all out injured.
Arsenal lineup vs Man Utd (4-3-3): Neto; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Calafiori; Jorginho, Merino, Odegaard; Sterling, Jesus, Martinelli.
United will benefit from spending a full week on the training pitch with Amorim, and the manager almost has a fully fit squad to choose from on Sunday.
Marcus Rashford has been cast aside and is searching for an exit route this summer. He won’t play having started at the Emirates in December.
United are also without Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Victor Lindelof due to injury.
There shouldn’t be many changes from the team that performed so impressively at Anfield last weekend given the week’s break the Red Devils have enjoyed. Leny Yoro and Alejandro Garnacho are the strongest contenders for returning to Amorim’s XI.
Man Utd lineup vs Arsenal (3-4-2-1): Onana; Yoro, Maguire, Martinez; Amad, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dalot; Fernandes, Garnacho; Zirkzee.
