Arsenal beat Brighton on Saturday, but, once again, it wasn’t the most comfortable of wins.
After scraping past, Everton and Wolves in their last two games, Arsenal, once again, won by a solitary goal against Brighton to re-establish their lead at the top of the Premier League.
To be fair, Arsenal aren’t currently in a position to be blowing teams away, they have a defensive injury crisis at the moment, and, at the moment, you just need to get by in each game.
How do you feel about Arsenal’s adjustment to Jurrien Timber’s injury?
We’re in the middle of the festive period, and that means that fixture congestion is an issue, and, sadly, some sacrifices may need to be made.
Arsenal need to rotate for the FA Cup
Arsenal face Portsmouth in the FA Cup in two weeks’ time, and, as much as the Gunners need to respect the cup competition, there’s no doubt about it, they have to rotate heavily here.
Ultimately, the Premier League takes precedence, and with so many injury issues ongoing right now, Arsenal can’t risk anything against Pompey in a low-stakes game.
These players need a chance to recover, and the Portsmouth game is perhaps the only chance Mikel Arteta will have to rotate his side.
Arsenal have a storied history with the FA Cup, but, if push comes to shove, it may be worth sacrificing that competition this season.
Ian Wright won’t like it if Arsenal make FA Cup compromise
Logic suggests that Arsenal should heavily rotate for the FA Cup to give their key players a chance to recover for Premier League duty.
However, that decision may be one that Ian Wright wouldn’t be a fan of.
Indeed, Wright has made it very clear over the years just how much the FA Cup means to him.
“Well, obviously, the FA Cup means the world to me – it still does. When I grew up, the FA Cup Final was the game that I watched religiously from 1970, all the way through,” Wright said on Crystal Palace’s website a few years ago.
Meanwhile, back in 2016, Wright claimed that the FA Cup is the best competition in football.
“Two years ago Arsenal lifted the FA Cup and it was seen as the saving grace for Arsene Wenger,’ Wright begins. ‘Now it’s being used as a stick to beat him with – almost viewed as an “also-ran” competition not worthy of even winning,” Wright said.
“That, in my book, is the most ridiculous insult for a competition which still deserves its place as the best in football.”
Fill the blanks: The most costly Arsenal injury has been _______ because ____________.
The reality is that winning the Premier League is way more important than winning the FA Cup this season for Arsenal, the Gunners have won the FA Cup on numerous occasions over the past decade or so, while it will soon be 22 years since the Gunners won the league.
It may rub some people up the wrong way, but Arsenal need to put their FA Cup hopes to one side and fully focus on the league.
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