Sutton United v Arsenal preview: Non-league side host Gunners in FA Cup fifth-round tie
Monday 20 February 2017 22:02, UK
Arsene Wenger will look to end a nightmare week on a positive note when Arsenal travel to Sutton United in the FA Cup fifth round on Monday.
This season's FA Cup has taken on added significance for the Gunners, whose most realistic chance of silverware lies in the competition following their Champions League drubbing at Bayern Munich.
With Wenger's future at the club in doubt following the Allianz Arena humbling, the Frenchman can ill-afford a cup upset to non-league opposition.
For Sutton, the tie is just reward for their remarkable cup run, which has seen them eliminate Wimbledon and Leeds en route to their first ever fifth-round appearance.
Sutton boss Paul Doswell refused to divulge in the pre-match scrutiny of Wenger and instead focused on hosting the 12-time winners at the 5,000-capacity Gander Green Lane, which features a 3G pitch.
"It is an open forum to criticise Arsenal and Arsene Wenger, but from our perspective we are just over the moon that they are coming here," he said.
Team news
Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny faces a scan on a thigh injury ahead of the fifth-round trip to Sutton.
The Gunners skipper was forced off in Wednesday's 5-1 Champions League defeat at Bayern and is unlikely to feature at Gander Green Lane, with Lucas Perez (hamstring), Aaron Ramsey (calf) and Santi Cazorla (Achilles) also missing out.
Wenger said he will pick a "normal team" for the tie rather than heavily rotate his starting line-up.
Doswell has a full squad to choose from ahead of hosting Arsenal, although the National League side have allowed striker Craig McAllister to re-join Eastleigh.
Opta stats
Sutton are playing their first ever fifth round FA Cup tie in their history. By contrast, this will be Arsenal's 54th game at this stage since 1925/26.
The last non-league team to win an FA Cup home game against top-flight opposition were Sutton United versus Coventry in 1989.
Despite beating Coventry, Sutton have conceded 15 goals in their three previous games against top-flight sides in the FA Cup.
This will be Arsenal's first game against a non-league side in the FA Cup since 2002/03, when they beat Farnborough 5-1 at Highbury.
No non-league team has ever reached the sixth round of the FA Cup in its current format.
Arsenal could reach the sixth round for the fourth season in a row, something they haven't achieved since 2005 (five in succession).
Theo Walcott has scored five times in his last two away FA Cup games for the Gunners.
Sutton midfielder Craig Eastmond played 10 times for Arsenal between October 2009 and November 2010, including one appearance in the FA Cup; a game they lost 1-3 to Stoke City.
Merson's prediction
I've been to Sutton to try the pitch for Soccer Saturday and there's nothing wrong with it. It's very nice. It's not like the old days, it's a really good artificial pitch. However, the dressing rooms are not good and Wenger has a tough call on whether to play his best team or whether to play the youngsters.
If I was the manager I wouldn't take any chances and play my best team, but they might turn up and think 'what am I doing here?' and take their eye off it. Do you play the squad players who have more to prove? They can't win the Premier League and are out of the Champions League so this is all they've got left.
If they were to lose this it would be the ultimate humiliation. It would be the biggest shock in the history of football. If it was a boxing match it wouldn't be allowed. I have to say Arsenal will win, but I hope Sutton score a goal. Their players have an unbelievable opportunity to write history and I hope they give their all and leave everything out there on the pitch.
PAUL PREDICTS: 0-3 (11/2 with Sky Bet)
Betting
It has been a difficult week for the Gunners but surely they won't slip up here and are 1/6 with Sky Bet to beat Sutton and progress to the last eight of the competition. The non-league outfit can be backed at 14/1 if you fancy the upset with the tie going to a replay on offer at 13/2. It will be interesting to see who Arsene Wenger starts the game with but strikers Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud are just 11/4 to open the scoring.
