Arsenal vs Portsmouth predicted XI: Rotation, rotation, rotation

Arsenal moves forward in the FA Cup, with Portsmouth coming up in then 5th round. Here is how they’ll line up to get into the next round.

The Premier League is temporarily on hold while Arsenal deal with side competitions, and it’s the FA Cup that’s up next. As we head into the fifth round to face Portsmouth, who are sitting at fifth in EFL League One, we have to be feeling pretty confident.

The Mikel Arteta era is going swimmingly, with a lot of stuff to look forward to. The defense has hardened up around the likes of Shkodran Mustafi and the attack is thriving behind the always present Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

But the FA Cup will give us the chance to give youth more of an opportunity to stretch their legs and assert themselves on the future of the club.

Of course, with the Europa League second leg having just passed by with a surprise elimination for our dead-tired first-teamers, rotation is again the name of the game as Arteta hopefully looks to rest more tired legs ahead of West Ham and the final charge of the Premier League season.

It’s a bit of an odd situation, with the Europa League giving way to the FA Cup, but Arteta will still likely be looking to rotate enough to ensure full freshness when this side returns to Premier League action.

In terms of the injury report, it’s all pretty much the same, with Kieran Tierney, Calum Chambers, and Cedric Soares still out and Sead Kolasinac eyeing a return soon.

As with every other match, expect to see a 4-2-3-1 formation from Arteta, with plenty of excitement to go around despite the heavy rotation in effect. And thus, without further ado, let’s dive into the predicted XI, starting in goal.

Keeper

Emiliano Martinez might feel a tad disenchanted that he isn’t being trusted to handle the Europa League, but it’s hard to argue anything as far as Bernd Leno is concerned because the German is just so damn good.

Still, the FA Cup will give Martinez a chance to bounce back after some questionable outings recently. What it will amount to, who knows, but it all starts here.

On to the defense.