Arsenal travel to Fratton Park to take on Portsmouth in the third round of the FA Cup. The Gunners, the most successful club in the history of the competition, have been eliminated in each of their last three FA Cup matches. They’ve never been eliminated in four-straight. They’ve also failed to advance beyond the fourth round since winning the cup in 2020. It feels like high time Arsenal made at deep run in the FA Cup.
A trip to struggling Portsmouth provides an opportunity for an ideal start to the cup campaign. Pompey sit 21st with a -14 goal difference. They’ve scored a paltry 21 goals in 24 matches, second-worst in the division. Their poor season means they’ll be laser-focused on this FA Cup tie. Clubs often use the cups as a way to right a flagging ship. Pompey will want to put on a good show for their home support against the Premier League leaders and use that to springboard themselves into an improved back half of the season. Perhaps a good omen — the last time the clubs met was a 2-0 Arsenal victory at Portsmouth in 2020, the year they won the cup.
Expect Mikel Arteta to rotate pretty heavily for today’s match. Arsenal play four-straight games on the road — today, at Chelsea in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semifinal, at Nottingham Forest, and at Inter in the Champions League. Players looked a bit leggy in the pouring rain against Liverpool, and the Gunners need to be fresh and firing up until their winter break in mid-February.
Arsenal will be without Piero Hincapie, who was forced off midweek with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. Scans revealed that it is (another) groin issue but thought not to be a serious one. Of course, when you join the club nursing a groin problem, suffer a groin problem in your first few weeks, and then pick up another, it’s slightly concerning. Riccardo Calafiori is still out with his mysterious muscle injury. Mikel Arteta said that today’s game would be “too early” for the Italian to return, which seems to suggest he’s not terribly far away from rejoining the squad. Max Dowman and Cristhian Mosquera are still several weeks away from returning from their respective ankle injuries. Kai Havertz is expected to be with the side and get some playing time as he works his way back from the knee injury he suffered in the opening match of the season.
Arsenal – Arrizabalaga, White, Norgaard, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Merino, Nwaneri, Eze, Madueke, Martinelli, Jesus
Portsmouth – Bursik, Poole, Shaughnessy, Bishop, Segecic, Le Rouz, Dozzell, Swanson, Devlin, Blair, Chaplin
WHAT: Arsenal at Portsmouth, FA Cup Round 3
WHERE: Fratton Park, Portsmouth
WHEN: Sunday, January 11th 6:00 am PT | 9:00 am ET | 2:00 pm GMT
US TV: Broadcast live on ESPN2.
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