Arsenal have somehow beaten Liverpool in the Premier League and now they shift their focus to the FA Cup as they take on Man City in the semi-final.
The Gunners go into this game with a lot of confidence but at the same time, Mikel Arteta will know fully well that his players will once again have to sweat it out without the ball on Saturday.
Arsenal are undefeated in 27 of their last 30 matches in the FA Cup but all that could change given the kind of form that Man City have been in recent weeks and also because the Gunners have one of the most unreliable defences in English football.
The chance of playing in the Champions League has passed for the North London side so Arteta will undoubtedly name his strongest XI on Saturday given that he has a real chance of winning a silverware this season.
Arsenal team news vs Man City:
Kolasinac and Shkodran Mustafi were both rested for the Liverpool game but they will come back into the starting XI replacing Rob Holding and Kieran Tierney in defence.
While Holding will move to the bench, Tierney will take up his usual wing-back role in place of Reiss Nelson. Pablo Mari remains sidelined with a long-term injury.
Cedric Soares is not eligible for this match as he has already played in the FA Cup with Southampton this season so Hector Bellerin will play on the right-hand side.
Lucas Torreira got a rare start in central midfield but the South American will be replaced by Dani Ceballos as Granit Xhaka holds onto his place in the starting XI.
Mesut Ozil is still recovering from his lower-back injury and is not likely to feature in the FA Cup semi-final.
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Nicolas Pepe was poor once again and he will drop to the bench against Manchester City. Bukayo Saka could be deployed down that right flank or the manager could also opt to use Reiss Nelson since the youngster put in a fine shift against Liverpool.
Lacazette scored one of the goals for Arsenal in midweek and will start upfront while Aubameyang will come back into the side after he came on as a sub vs Liverpool.
Arsenal’s predicted XI vs Man City:
Predicted Starting XI: Martinez; David Luiz, Mustafi, Kolasinac; Tierney, Hector Bellerin, Xhaka, Ceballos; Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nelson/Bukayo Saka.
Injury updates via Premier Injuries.
