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Arsenal will be aiming to return to winning ways when they face Portsmouth on the road in the FA Cup third round today.
Ahead of the game, manager Mikel Arteta is poised to make wholesale changes from the goalless Premier League draw versus Liverpool.
Formation: 4-2-3-1
Predicted Line-up:
Kepa Arrizabalaga has been the Gunners’ Cup goalkeeper and he is expected to start between the sticks ahead of David Raya this afternoon.
In defence, Ben White and Myles Lewis-Skelly are poised to come in for Jurrien Timber and Piero Hincapie in the full-back roles as part of the rotation. Hincapie could be nursing a hamstring injury.
William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are expected to start in central defence with Riccardo Calafiori, Cristhian Mosquera and Hincapie out.
Martin Zubimendi, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard should be given a break. It could be Christian Norgaard, Mikel Merino and Eberechi Eze occupying the midfield positions against Pompey.
Similarly, Bukayo Saka, Viktor Gyokeres and Leandro Trossard could feature on the bench. Noni Madueke and Gabriel Martinelli are likely to start out wide with Gabriel Jesus in the no.9 role.
Predicted Arsenal line-up (4-2-3-1) vs Portsmouth: Arrizabalaga; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Norgaard, Merino; Madueke, Eze, Martinelli; Jesus.
