Record FA Cup winners Arsenal face the current holders Manchester United at Emirates in the highlighting fixture of round three.
ARS vs MUN Match Details
Date: Sunday, 12 January 2024
Time: 16:00 (BST), 20:30 (IST)
Venue: Emirates Stadium, London
ARS vs MUN Match Preview
Despite starting the year with a 3-1 win over Brentford, Arsenal suffered back-to-back disappointing results that caught them off-guard. Their 14-game unbeaten run in all competitions ended unexpectedly against Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Emirates. While the Magpies did well to claim a 2-0 victory, the hosts shot themselves in the foot by wasting countless opportunities to not be on the losing side at least. With a mountain to climb to stay in the League Cup contention and trailing Liverpool by six points having played a game more in the Premier League, the Gunners will focus on the competition they are ultimate kings of. However, the 14-time winners have not managed to win the competition since Mikel Arteta guided the side to a miraculous triumph five years ago. Since then, the side has failed to make it past the fourth round of the competition. Moreover, the team faces Manchester United at home again to start their journey in the latest edition of the FA Cup despite the opposition’s miserable form. The last time Arteta's side suffered back-to-back losses at the Emirates Stadium was also an FA Cup elimination in the same round by Liverpool last January. They will rely on their record of winning the previous six encounters against teams holding the FA Cup.
After a fourth straight loss in all competitions, Manchester United put up a performance that might motivate them to change their terrible form by holding leaders Liverpool to a 2-2 draw. The encouraging part of the result was they came close to winning the game with Harry Maguire missing a great chance to put the ball in the back of the net in stoppage time. This was a speck of positivity in a distressing run that has seen the Red Devils almost indulging into an unwanted relegation battle with only seven points from safety. Ruben Amorim has to pull off a monumental task to change the side's faith, retaining the FA Cup title is the only silverware they could hope for this season. United lost to Arsenal in the Premier League meeting this season and since then they have managed just two wins albeit without a clean sheet in the last nine matches in all competitions. To top it off, they haven’t won at Emirates since 2019 although that was a 3-1 win in the previous FA Cup meeting between the two sides. The holders have won three of the last four FA Cup meetings, eight overall, giving them confidence in keeping the title defence intact. However, the team is in a four-game winless streak in this fixture.
ARS vs MUN Recent Form (all competitions)
ARS: WWWDL
MUN: LLLLD
ARS vs MUN Predicted Lineups
Arsenal
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Odegaard, Rice, Merino; Jesus, Havertz, Martinelli
Manchester United
Onana; De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez; Mazraoui, Ugarte, Mainoo, Dalot; Diallo, Fernandes; Hojlund
ARS vs MUN head-to-head (FA Cup)
Played - 16
ARS won - 6
Drawn - 2
MUN won - 8
ARS vs MUN Dream11 Match Prediction
Despite Arsenal’s recent defeat and Manchester United’s strong result against high-flying Liverpool, the Gunners look better equipped to have an edge in this battle. We predict a 2-1 win for them.
ARS vs MUN Dream11 Top picks
Captain Pick: Bruno Fernandes
Vice-captain Picks: Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Amad Diallo
ARS vs MUN Dream11 Team Suggestion
GK: Onana (Cr - 7.5)
DEF: Saliba (Cr - 8.5), Gabriel (Cr - 8.5), Martinez (Cr - 7.5)
MID: Martinelli (Cr - 8.5), Odegaard (Cr - 7), Fernandes (Cr - 9), Diallo (Cr - 8.5)
FW: Jesus (Cr - 9), Hojlund (Cr - 6.5), Havertz (Cr - 8.5)
Vice-captain: Kai Havertz
Captain: Bruno Fernandes
