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Arsenal and Sunderland square off in one of the most interesting FA Cup matches of the day, an all – Premier League clash in only the third round of the competition. The two teams met one month ago at the same venue and Arsenal won 3-1, but they left it late to seal the deal.
Arsenal, the two time FA Cup reigning champions, are on the back of two consecutive wins against Bournemouth (2-0) and Newcastle (1-0). They also won 6 of the last 7 games and the last 5 at home. The hosts are certainly in very good form and are having a great season, but it has to be said that the performance against Newcastle last weekend was shocking. Arsenal was extremely poor, did not create anything and clearly did not deserve to win that game.
Considering the fact that Arsenal is involved in a grueling battle to win the title and that they are looking at a match against Liverpool on Wednesday, one would expect heavy rotation today. However, Wenger stated that he will make 2 or 3 changes maximum. A reason for this is surely the fact that Arsenal is trying to make history by winning the FA Cup three consecutive times – it would be the first time in 130 years.
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Sunderland finally beat Aston Villa 3-1 last weekend after previously losing 5 matches in a row. It was not a spectacular performance, as Villa is in shambles, but on the other hand Sunderland did not play that bad in that 5 match losing streak. Even though the visitors don’t necessarily look like they deserve to relegate, the situation in Premier League is very bad, Sunderland is 4 points away from safety and is expected to make a number of changes today, focusing more on the league.
Team news & lineups:
Aside from the usual injuries that both sides have, there will be standard cup rotation. While Wenger said he will not make more than 3 changes, Sunderland could use more substitutes in order to stay fresh for the relegation fight.
Arsenal: Ospina – Bellerin, Chambers, Gabriel, Gibbs – Flamini, Ramsey – Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Campbell – Walcott
Sunderland: Pantilimon – Yedlin, O’Shea, Brown, Van Aanholt – Cattermole, Gomez, Watmore, Toivonen – Borini – Graham
Even though Sunderland showed a decent level of football under Sam Allardyce, they still lost big every time they met a top opponent recently: 1-3 against Chelsea and Arsenal, 1-4 against Manchester City. Defense is a huge problem for them right now and Arsenal is ready to speculate that. The Gunners will surely put on a good display after playing a poor match last round against Newcastle.
Given the fact that Sunderland will probably rotate the squad more than Arsenal and thinking about Arsenal’s motivation to three-peat, I think it’s safe to assume that there’s a very good chance for Arsenal to cover the 1 goal handicap. It would be the second time in one month against Sunderland after the 3-1 Premier League victory. The odds are good, so my tip is Arsenal to win with a 1,5 handicap. Prediction: Arsenal – Sunderland 3-0.
Pick: Arsenal -1,5
Odds: 1.87 @ Pinnacle
Stake: 8
Possible profit: 6.96
Event date: 9 January
