Blackpool vs Arsenal preview: Petr Cech likely to start against League One side
Arsenal face Blackpool in the third round of the FA Cup on Saturday evening, with Petr Cech likely to be given a rare outing between the posts.
Gunners boss Unai Emery is likely to make a number of changes given his current injury list and on the back of a gruelling festive fixture list.
Emery will get his first taste of the FA Cup at Bloomfield Road, having replaced the most successful manager in the history of the competition, Arsene Wenger, who won it seven times.
He said: „In my experience I have one dark day in some competitions and I don’t like it. For example we lost with Sevilla against one team in the third division in Spain in one cup. I remember that.
„I think we can win, we can lose, we can draw but we must be concerned. It is important also to prepare and respect every team, and then we can continue our way of improving and above all have a competitive mentality and a winning mentality.“
The two teams have already met in the Carabao Cup this season, with Arsenal winning 2-1 in the fourth round, and Blackpool manager Terry McPhillips is taking confidence from that meeting.
He said: „It’s brilliant for all of us who are involved. We take some confidence from the previous game because we gave them a game at their place and we limited them to two shots on target, although they scored both, but we are playing Arsenal so we’ll need a bit of luck.
„We’ll need to play really well and maybe they’ll need to be off it a little bit. I think if you’ve ever got a chance against Arsenal, we’ve got more of a chance at Bloomfield. We’ve already played them away so it’s great that we’ve got them at home.“
Team news
Arsenal are unlikely to welcome back any of their injured players before Saturday. Mesut Ozil (knee) leads the list of expected absentees and while Hector Bellerin (calf), Nacho Monreal (hamstring) and Konstantinos Mavropanos (groin) are training at some level, none are likely to be risked at Bloomfield Road.
The same goes for Shkodran Mustafi, who came off at half-time in the win over Fulham with a minor hamstring complaint. Rob Holding (knee), Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Danny Welbeck (both ankle) are ruled out for the longer-term.
Blackpool midfielder Jordan Thompson will complete his three-match suspension this weekend, while Curtis Tilt and Oliver Turton are once again likely to miss out because of their respective injuries.
Max Clayton (hamstring) is doubtful, while Mark Cullen (leg fracture) and Jimmy Ryan (knee) are long-term absentees.
Opta stats
This will be the fourth FA Cup tie between Blackpool and Arsenal – Blackpool eliminated the Gunners in 1952-53 and 1969-70, with Arsenal winning the most recent encounter 3-1 in December 1999.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last nine games against Blackpool in all competitions (W7 D2), winning the last five in a row, including a League Cup match earlier this season.
Blackpool are winless in their last 14 FA Cup matches against top-flight opposition (D4 L10), since beating Burnley in the third round in January 1976.
Arsenal were eliminated at the third-round stage of the FA Cup last season – the first time they had been beaten at this stage since 1995-96.
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