Arsenal vs Blackpool: 5 key players to kickstart FA Cup campaign

4. Matteo Guendouzi

Matteo Guendouzi falls into the same string of logic as Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Through December, both were called upon quite heavily in the Premier League, so it would make sense to think that, in the FA Cup, they’ll have a break.

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But that probably won’t be the case. These side competitions became the stomping grounds of Guendouzi, and as the fixture list begins to unclutter, you’d have to think that he may again start filtering out of the Premier League starting XI, depending on what formation Unai Emery chooses on any given day.

Just like Maitland-Niles, Guendouzi is going to be one of the more reliable players out there, and given his play style, it will probably fall on him to control the ball, a-la Granit Xhaka, and dictate the pace of the game, which makes him a default key player, as Granit Xhaka often is as well, before any given Premier League match-up.

Also similar to Maitland-Niles, the more we see of Guendouzi, the better he seems to get, so giving him a match like this, which could drastically up his already brimming confidence, seems like a no-brainer.

On to No. 3.