Arsenal take on third-tier Mansfield in FA Cup

Arsenal's schedule is still packed despite the end of the season slowly approaching. The north London side is fighting on all four fronts, so there is virtually no room for rest. Now that the weekend exceptionally does not play the Premier League, so the FA Cup, specifically the eight-final matches, in which the Gunners will not be missing. The fate of the oldest club competition in the world has put Arsenal in the way of a paper significantly weaker opponent, Mansfield. A team that operates in the third highest competition, where they are also at the bottom of the table. But that doesn't mean that they have Mikel Arteta's to the next stage of the competition in your pocket, on the contrary. Miracles do happen in football, and in the FA Cup this is doubly true. Mansfield itself is a perfect example of this, as it knocked out Burnley in its own stadium in the last round. Let's hope Arsenal leave nothing to chance and fulfil their role as favourites.

Form

Arsenal have been getting a lot of attention lately. a wave of criticism for his gameplay from all sides. But at this stage of the season, they are most important results, which, at least in the Gunners' last three appearances, have gone the way all North London fans wanted. Mansfield has been significantly worse off lately. For a detailed overview of recent results and other relevant information, see the tables below.

Arsenal

📈 Current form: 🟢 🟢 🟢 🟡 🟢

⚽️ Results: Brighton 0:1 Arsenal (PL), Arsenal 2:1 Chelsea (PL), Tottenham 1:4 Arsenal (PL), Wolverhampton 2:2 Arsenal (PL), Arsenal 4:0 Wigan (FA Cup)

🏆 Premier League position: 1st (67 points)

Mansfield

📈 Current form: 🟡 🟡 🔴 🔴 🟢

⚽️ Results: Rotherham 0:0 Mansfield (LO), Mansfield 2:2 Wimbledon (LO), Mansfield 0:2 Lincoln (LO), Blackpool 1:0 Mansfield (LO), Burnley 1:2 Mansfield (FA Cup)

🏆 League One position: 16th (41 points)

Team and expected line-up

Although Mikel Arteta will no doubt want to win the game against Mansfield, I think make as many changes to the starting lineup as possible. He's got more than enough reasons. Besides the fact that many players are dealing with minor or major health problems, others are waiting for a chance. This time I would almost put my hand in the fire for the fact that we will see a significantly renewed line-up on the pitch.

Expected line-up

The first change should come in goal, where he should stand Kepa Arrizabalaga. The Spanish goalkeeper has played in every cup game so far (I mean both English cups) and this time should be no different.

There should also be further changes in the composition of the defensive four. Health problems, a heavy workload and one card penalty in Arsenal's defensive ranks can result in one big debut. I think a youngster of only 16 years old could line up on the right edge of defence Marli Salmon. The England youth international has already made a few starts for Arsenal's A team as a substitute, but if he were to really start from the start, it would be his first official start. We could see a stopper pairing of Cristhian Mosquera and Piero Hincapié. The Italian defender should really start on the left side of the defence this time. Riccardo Calafiori.

Declan Rice and Martín Zubimendi took some minor injuries from their last few games, so I expect Mikel Arteta to spare them at least a little by leaving them on the substitutes bench. He has no natural midfield options left. Therefore, I dare say he will have a certain place in the starting lineup. Christian Nørgaard, who will be complemented Eberechi Eze and Kai Havertz. If the match goes as expected, a healed player could also appear on the pitch Max Dowman, who we saw on the bench at the Amex Stadium last week.

The offensive trident should be formed by Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus. With Madueke and Jesus, I would be very surprised if they didn't start from the first minute, while with Gabriel Martinelli the situation is different. In his place, he can step in Leandro Trossard, who started his last competitive game between the hoops. Personally, however, I'm inclined to prefer the Brazilian footballer this time as well.

Absences

Aside from the long-term injured Mikel Merino, who will not be on the pitch for some time, Arsenal will be missing several other players for the match against Mansfield.

I'm guessing he'll get the day off David Raya, who's done a lot of catching this year. In his case, it should only be a precautionary measure. Among the other absentees will unfortunately be Myles Lewis-Skelly, who will be serving a yellow card suspension. In his case it's a great pity because he would probably have started in the centre of midfield if he had been available. But unfortunately you don't play that in football or anywhere else. He is also still out of the game Ben White, who was reportedly absent from the pre-match training session, so it is highly likely that we will not see him in the starting line-up. The same goes for the French stopper William Saliba, who didn't travel for the league game against Brighton in the week. Unfortunately, we're not done with absences yet. Today's team training session was not even attended by the team captain Martin Ødegaard, so we won't see him on the field tomorrow either. And that should hopefully be all.

Opponent

🏟️ Stadium: One Call Stadium, Mansfield (capacity 9 186)

👔 ManagerNigel Clough

🧤GoalkeepersHarry Lewis, Liam Roberts

🛡️ DefendersTaylor Anderson, Frazer Blake-Tracy, Baily Cargill, Elliott Hewitt, Kyle Knoyle, Aaron Lewis, Rhys Oates, Adedeji Oshilaja, Ryan Sweeney

🎯 MidfieldersGeorge Abbott, Luke Bolton, Regan Hendry, Oliver Irow, Stephen McLaughlin, Nathan Moriah-Welsh, Louis Reed, Jonathan Russell, Oliver Taylor

⚽️ ForwardsVictor Adeboyejo, Lucas Akins, Nathaniel Jordan Bowery, Dom Dwyer, Will Evans, Joe Gardner, George Maris, Tyler Roberts

Match

As I wrote earlier today, Arsenal will certainly run out with a line-up that certainly cannot be considered the strongest. On the other hand, with the width and especially the quality of the squad at the Spanish manager's disposal, it certainly cannot be said that Arsenal will field a weak line-up. Whatever the North London team's starting eleven looks like, it should be sufficiently quality and capable of succeeding at One Call Stadium. Personally, I would like to see a similar run to the last round against Wigan. A dominant performance in the first half crowned by a few accurate shots and a calm rest of the game in which other players from the bench will be able to see the pitch. For example, some youngsters from the academy or players coming off injury.

In terms of expected progress, Arsenal should dominate. From A to Z. Here I would not go into any further deep thoughts. The Gunners should outplay their opponent in all aspects and therefore this superiority should be reflected in the final result. I believe that Arsenal players fulfil the role of favourite and they will advance to the next stage of the competition. I predict Arsenal to win 3:1.

Next match

Arsenal will continue their cup programme after the game against Mansfield. In the week the footballers from Emirates Stadium will face the first Champions League round od 16 match, in which they will present themselves on the ground Bayer Leverkusen. The match is scheduled Wednesday 11 March 2026 from 18:45 (CET).

See you next time, I'll look forward to it!

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