Sheffield United away Preview

SHOW SOME STEEL

ARSENAL WILL LOOK to follow up last night’s win at Southampton when they head north to face Sheffield United in the FA Cup quarter final on Sunday.

Bramall Lane has hardly been a happy hunting ground for us over the years with Arsenal failing to score on four of our last five visits, including an FA Cup tie in 2005 which we won on penalties after a 0-0 draw.

At the time of the original tie in March the Blades were in great form, chasing a top four place and playing some great football. 

They had played extremely well in a 1-1 draw at the Emirates in January and of course beat us 1-0 at Bramall Lane in October.

But the restart has not been kind to Chris Wilder’s side. 

Following a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa in the first match of Project Restart, where they were denied a goal by a goal-line technology malfunction, they have since suffered back-to-back 3-0 defeats at Newcastle United and Manchester United. This though will be their first match at home since before the lockdown.

So, could this be to be a great time to face them?

The FA Cup of course offers an opportunity for Mikel Arteta to win a trophy in his first season with the club. The run so far has seen a narrow home win over promotion chasing Leeds United, followed by two tough away wins on the south coast against Bournemouth and Portsmouth.

The win back on the south coast at St Mary’s last night was a much-needed tonic ahead of this cup tie following two disappointing defeats at Manchester City and Brighton and Hove Albion. The team looked much more together and well defended as a unit.

Eddie Nketiah, who scored the opener last night, has scored in both previous rounds and is likely to start again, although I expect a slightly more experienced side from the one which started at Southampton.

I would not be surprised to see a first start for right back Cedric Soares after Hector Bellerin’s recent problems, while Sead Kolasinac is likely to start at left back after Kieran Tierney’s late injury last night.

In midfield I would except Granit Xhaka to retain his place with possibly Ainsley Maitland-Niles alongside him. 

The big question mark remains over Mesut Ozil who has so far not featured in any of the three matches since the restart. But maybe this would be a great time to throw him back in.

So, the team I would start at Bramall Lane would be: Martinez – Soares, Mustafi, Holding, Kolasinac - Xhaka, Maitland-Niles, Saka – Ozil, Nketiah, Aubameyang.

It will be a 4-4-3 although like last night I would not be surprised to see Kolasinac or Soares tuck in to push the opposite full back on in a switch to 3-5-2 or even a 3-4-3 which seems to be Arteta’s long term plan and mirrors Manchester City’s formation.

Despite our recent troubles I can see the FA Cup being our saviour this season. As well as a place in Europe, which may be beyond us in the league, it is also a great opportunity to give Arteta something to build on. 

Lifting a trophy would give him more clout with the board for the summer transfer window and the guarantee of European football may be enough to persuade the owners to give him a bigger budget.

Of course, Arteta is no stranger to FA Cup success with Arsenal. He played in the team that won the trophy in 2014 and lifted the cup as captain the following year despite missing the final through injury.

I am not taking this game lightly, however. Wilder will be desperate to see a reaction from his team and back at home they will be a different proposition even without any fans in the stadium.

Personally, I am gutted about that as I had a ticket for the original tie and winning a quarter final away from home is always a great experience. 

But these are exceptional circumstances and I will have to make do with taking part in another online watchalong.

I think it will be a tight tie which may well go all the way to extra time and even penalties but I am confident it will be us who will be the hat for the semi-final draw come Sunday afternoon. 

Wearing a yellow ribbon in the merry month of July may not have the same ring to it but after the season we have had so far I'm sure none of us will be complaining about that.