Arsenal are still on course for a historic quadruple season. The Gunners have suffered setbacks, but their resolve has been most impressive. Despite injuries to key players, Mikel Arteta has led his team to the top of the Premier League, the final of the Carabao Cup, and the last-16 of the Champions League. Arsenal have a rich history in the FA Cup and will be eager to brush Mansfield aside and march on. Mansfield are struggling in League One, with no wins in their last five league games. Here are the confirmed lineups for Mansfield vs Arsenal, including the latest team news.
FA Cup: Brighton vs Arsenal News and Confirmed Lineups
Mansfield Team News
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Mansfield boss Nigel Clough spoke about the challenge of facing Arsenal:
“Our players know the gulf. We’re a bottom-half of the League One table side playing against top of the Premier League. Without breaking a sweat, they could easily demolish us. But you just had a team from National League North go and knock out the holders. These sorts of shocks can happen.
“We don’t know who they are going to play, but we know roughly what their formation will be, and we know that whichever Arsenal team is put out is going to be incredibly strong at set plays, especially corners. We can concentrate on those sorts of things. But in terms of the open play and what the individuals can do, it will be a bit more difficult to prepare for that.”
Looking at the injuries for Nigel Clough’s team, they will be missing long-term absentees Baily Cargill (hamstring) and Ryan Sweeney (hamstring). Luke Bolton is also expected to miss the game due to a calf injury.
Arsenal Team News
In the pre-match press conference prior to the Brighton game, Mikel Arteta discussed the availability of Kai Havertz, and said: “So he’s done a part of the session, we will have to wait and see whether he’s available and in which condition. The rest I don’t think there will be anybody else.”
The Gunners boss confirmed: “Ben (White) is not available.”
He also teased a return for Martin Odegaard, saying: “We will see.” When quizzed further on his status, Arteta said: “Yeah, we have to wait and see how comfortable he is to do certain actions.”
With a few extra days, it remains a possibility that we could see Odegaard, White and Havertz involved from the bench. The return of Odegaard would be a huge boost for the Gunners, with Arteta’s team still in the hunt for four major trophies. The only long-term injury remains Mikel Merino.
Mansfield Confirmed Lineup
This section will be updated once the team news is confirmed.
Arsenal Confirmed Lineup
This section will be updated once the team news is confirmed.