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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is ready to get the FA Cup campaign started against Manchester United.
If there is one competition that means a little more to Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, it's the FA Cup.
Having won the competition back in 2020 against Chelsea, it was the Spaniard's first major trophy as a manager, but since then, the club has failed to lift any significant silverware.
There was a thought that the Carabao Cup was the competition the Gunners could win, having made it to the semi-finals, but a 2-0 loss at home to Newcastle has thrown a serious spanner in the works and now leaves Arsenal with a big task to turn things around at St. James' Park.
But the FA Cup is now upon us and attention can shift to a competition the Gunners have won 14 times, and against Manchester United, there will be a little extra spice in this one.
And it's a game that Arteta knows has a little extra meaning for the club.
"It’s a massive part of our history, we’ve won it 14 times and it is a competition very attached to us," Arteta said via arsenal.com. "It’s a beautiful game to play against a massive club, and a very special occasion as well with the amount supporters that they're going to bring, so it’s a very big game."
This looms as a big chance for the Gunners to get their foot into what might be the only competition that is has a legitmate chance at winning.
Arsenal could find itself behind league leaders Liverpool by nine points if Arne Slot's team win their game in hand, plus the Carabao Cup nearly looks gone and we won't get started on the Champions League.
So that leaves the FA Cup.
There is a lot riding on the outcome of this game as it will cap off the worst week for the Gunners if they add to their Carabao Cup misery by being knocked out of the FA Cup, leaving the possibility of another trophyless season under Arteta being real.
But being at home, the Gunners will fancy their chances to flip the script and start to convert the host of chances they've wasted over the past few games, which has fans scratching their heads.
United in the FA Cup, and at home. It doesn't get any bigger for Arsenal, and it's a game it can't afford to lose.