Morning all.
Well, the FA Cup certainly threw out a few unexpected results yesterday. Macclesfield knocking out the current holders was not something any football fan would have seen coming let alone Crystal Palace fans. Newcastle Utd, Sunderland and Aston Villa won the other three Premier League club clashes against Bournemouth, Everton and Totts respectively. Man City just about scraped past Exeter…
Anyway, it’s our turn today and it’s got banana skin written all over it. Portsmouth might be sitting one point and one place above the Championship relegation places but as history tells us, the FA Cup is notorious for throwing up shocks. Arsenal need to make sure they aren’t involved in another one this afternoon.
As far as injuries go, Piero Hincapie is a doubt after picking up a knock against Liverpool and all three of Max Dowman, Riccardo Calafiori and Cristhian Mosquera are still a little bit away from returning from their injuries. Kai Havertz could return to the squad.
Portsmouth have a number of injuries with midfielder Mark Kosznovszky and centre-backs Hayden Matthews and Josh Knight are ruled out. Forwards Callum Lang and Josh Murphy miss out too. On loan Minhyeok Yang was recalled by Totts earlier in the week. Marlon Pack and striker Colby Bishop face a late fitness test.
I write that as if I know something about Portsmouth FC but other than they are based in Hampshire, I know absolutely nothing.
[Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke](https://www.arsenal.com/news/preview-portsmouth-v-arsenal):
_Mousinho likes to use a 4-2-3-1 that focuses hard on releasing his wingers down the sides, but he also occasionally plays a back five. Their young head coach may wish to opt for safety in numbers – but his side are certainly more comfortable in their preferred set-up._
_In possession, they have a balanced approach, play through the thirds, and they love to get the ball to their wingers, who tend to put plenty of crosses into the box. But Mousinho’s men will also go direct at times – no Championship side averages more long passes (69 per 90 minutes) than Portsmouth._
_Scoring goals has been an issue, netting just 21 times in league games – the second-lowest tally – while their top scorer is central attacking midfielder Adrian Segecic \[above\] who has four of them. They have also had issues defending crosses which has led to them conceding 14 set-piece goals: the second most at Championship level, while eight of the 35 goals they have let in have been headers._
_Backed by vociferous support at Fratton Park, Pompey will try to upset our rhythm with fierce closing down and a well-organised shape. Known for displaying fight on home turf, they have beaten three of the Championship’s top five on their own patch this season, and as shown by the fact they’ve yet to concede more than twice in a home match too, they can be a tough nut to crack._
Defensively, Mikel Arteta doesn’t have much wriggle room unless Hincapie returns. I imagine Ben White will come into the side with either Jurrien Timber or Myles Lewis-Skelly at left back. Mikel Merino, Ebb Eze, Ethan Nwaneri, Christian Norgaard, Gabriel Jesus and Kepa must all fancy their chances of starting today. I doubt all will start but I hope we see a few who played on Thursday at least drop to the bench because we have a League Cup semifinal to play in three days time. Could this finally be the day when Kai Havertz gets further than the bench? I hope so. Not for one minute do I think he’s our goal scoring saviour but he gives Mikel Arteta a different option.
I think it will be a tough game for Arsenal. It’s wet, windy and chilly down south this morning and Fratton Park is going to be noisy.
Lastly, according to The Times, Arsenal have called in Thomas Gronnemark, king of the throw-in coaches, to help improve our own throw-ins. The Dane, who worked with Jurgen Klopp, has been working with Arsenal. Let’s hope he can help because our throw-ins are little short of dire. Mind you, so is the movement into space to receive them
Catch up in the comments.