BBC pundit Chris Sutton predicts Sunday’s FA Cup third-round clash between Arsenal and Liverpool at Emirates Stadium will deliver a result that ‘neither manager wants’.
The Gunners host their Premier League title rival in the FA Cup this weekend to kick off their tournaments. Arsenal and Liverpool enter the world’s oldest national football competition in the third round. But both sides have not gone far in most recent editions of the tournament.
Arsenal have not advanced beyond the fourth round since Mikel Arteta won the FA Cup back in the 2019/20 season. The Emirates Stadium outfit even also crashed out in the third-round in 2021/22. Liverpool also exited in Round Four in 2020/21 and 2022/23 but won it in 21/22.
Chris Sutton predicts a draw for Arsenal vs Liverpool in the FA Cup
Liverpool’s visit to north London this Sunday now comes at a tricky time for Arsenal, as well. Arteta’s squad have only taken one win in their last six games across all competitions with a 2-0 result over Brighton & Hove Albion. Their run also includes a 1-1 league draw at Anfield.
Celtic hero Sutton has also now predicted another 1-1 draw for when Arsenal host Liverpool in the FA Cup. But he has told BBC Sport that neither Arteta nor Jurgen Klopp will want their tie to end as a draw. Even though Sutton backs the Reds to win any replay over the Gunners.
Sutton said: “I really don’t know what sort of team Arsenal or Liverpool will put out. Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp have rotated their squad heavily in the FA Cup in previous seasons. But I have a feeling this one will end in the result neither manager wants, which is a draw.”
Mikel Arteta likes to rotate his line-up in the early FA Cup rounds
Arsenal crashed out of the FA Cup after a 1-0 defeat at Southampton in January 2021 as the defending champions. Arteta named a fairly strong side at St Mary’s but littered the line-up with back-up options. Mohamed Elneny, Nicolas Pepe and Cedric Soares all started their tie.
Arteta would also regret fielding a weakened side at Nottingham Forest in January 2022. The Gunners lost 1-0 at the then-Championship Reds when Nuno Tavares, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Charlie Patino started beside Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and also Gabriel Martinelli.
Yet even a fourth-round clash at Manchester City was not enough to see Arteta name a full-strength XI in January 2023. Matt Turner started in goal for the Gunners with Kieran Tierney, Fabio Vieira, Eddie Nketiah and Leandro Trossard also given starting roles at Etihad Stadium.
So, given Arsenal have only beaten Brighton in their past five Premier League games, Arteta will likely look to rotate his team in the FA Cup against top-flight table-toppers Liverpool this weekend, too. He will surely want to give some of the Gunners’ star players a welcome rest.
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