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Akpom & Ozil START: Arsenal’s Starting Line-Up To Take On Brighton

By mac14 on January 23, 2015

Arsenal continue the defence our their FA Cup trophy when we head South to take on Brighton & Hove Albion in the fourth round on Sunday afternoon.

I expect Arsene Wenger to put out a very similar side to the one that beat Hull 2-0 in the previous round but this is the eleven I’d go with for the game….

There is a big question mark over who will start in goal. Szczesny has been dropped in recent weeks and Ospina has kept three clean sheets in three games.

However, while the Colombian has done nothing wrong, I’d personally still feel more comfortable with Szczesny as our No.1 during the second half of the season.

Therefore, as the No.2 keeper usually plays in the domestic cups, I’d keep Ospina between the sticks on Sunday and bring Szczesny back in next weekend against Aston Villa.

Koscielny should certainly be rested in defence so Chambers starts next to Mertesacker while Bellerin is expected to pass a late fitness test on a minor knock. Gibbs hasn’t featured much recently so he should get a start at left-back.

For me, Coquelin is now our first choice holding midfielder so let’s protect him and start Flamini in midfield. Ramsey should also be left out with Rosicky coming back in.

Arsene has already confirmed that Walcott and Ozil will start while Campbell is likely to join them despite continued speculation linking him with a loan move this month.

It’s going to be interesting to see what the boss decides to do up front. Sanchez hates being rested but we need to protect him from burn-out so I’d definitely leave him out along with Giroud and give Akpom a start.

Arsene hinted last night that the youngster could play and if we want to persuade him to sign a new deal then we need to show he’s going to be given opportunities in the first team.

This is how I’d line-up:

With the likes of Sanchez, Giroud and Ramsey on the bench we should have enough to see-off the Championship hopefuls.

What do you think….what side would you pick?

7 Comments

Tom

January 23, 2015 at 4:04 pm

Giroud will start. He’s barely kicked a ball this season. And Szez has to be given a little respect and put back in goal for cup games. Apart from that – your squad is spot on.

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goonerjay

January 23, 2015 at 4:27 pm

agree with your team entirely, especially the Akpom bit. The boy has something about him and deserves a chance. I rate him higher than Sanogo personally.
As to Szcezsnnsnsnszzzsssney… screw him. He’s a calamity and his arrogance is getting him into trouble.
Ospina was one of the stand out keepers at the world cup (so much so that whilst watching him in one game for Columbia, before he was even linked with us, commented to a friend that i’d like him to be our replacement for flappyhandski) and has yet to put a foot wrong in an Arsenal shirt so for me Ospina is now our No1 until sir silly name can sort his head out and improve

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naz

January 23, 2015 at 4:35 pm

seriously, you have to be joking about Ospina. Sz had his chance and he made mistake as a result he is dropped. Ospina is far more sensible when it comes to controlling from the back. Man City game is a perfect example he did not just throw the ball out.

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Charlie Mclaren

January 23, 2015 at 4:45 pm

Ospina deserves respect and to be considered as number 1 therefore Szczesny should be in the FA Cup squad. Keepers should be first choice until they make mistakes and Szczesny has not been good enough this season. How would Ospina feel if after 3 clean sheets he is relegated to second choice as the senior keeper ? Ramsey needs games to recover match fitness. Perhaps give Zelalem a run out instead of Flamini. Truth is that Zelalem is the future and deserves his chance. I think Sanchez might start. With only 2 games in 2 weeks there’s no chance of overexertion and with 2 weeks without a game there would be a chance of him losing his sharpness.

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Rick

January 23, 2015 at 4:59 pm

Who ever is doing better in training should be No. 1.

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Donaldson

January 24, 2015 at 4:17 am

Misleading headline as usual. Already reported this blog to Newsnow. “Start” really?

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Rabiu Ibrahim

January 24, 2015 at 11:31 am

Instead of Szcennys, I think Martinez our third keeper should be our goal keeper on that day, becus we cannot rely on Szcennys anymore. Ospina is goin 2 be bench till our next week game against Aston Villa. Sanchez nd Giroud should start Bellerin nd coaqleen also should start too. Rocisky nd Cazorla should be bench. Ramsey Walcott Ozil will take on De game.

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