Arsenal vs Manchester City predicted XI: The FA Cup is serious

Midfield

Don’t expect anything cute or clever here either. Matteo Guendouzi is taking the highway out of Arsenal as soon as he possibly can and while Lucas Torreira looked good for a while, he inevitably tapered off against Liverpool. It was nice to see him back, but he isn’t ready to challenge either of the incumbents for their starting job.

Dani Ceballos will be back in the mix. I’m a little nervous because he looked a tad slow coming on as a sub against Liverpool but that’s not an easy match to jump into from the bench and he did defend well despite struggling to push forward.

And of course, the ever unappreciated Granit Xhaka will be back for a reprisal of his usual business. He’ll be that rock in the midfield, make one mistake, and be ousted for it.

Still, this is a powerful midfield that can work well in tandem. And we’re going to need them too.

Last but not least, the front three.