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

By 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?

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