Arsenal got back their much-needed confidence as they rampaged non-league side Lincoln City 5-0 in their FA Cup quarter-finals. After the terrible past two weeks, which saw the Gunners getting ousted from the Premier League title race as well as the Champions League, Arsene Wenger’s men had to pull off a big win that would restore the faith among the fans.
They visit West Bromwich Albion next as they resume their Premier League campaign which is yet again reduced to the fight for the fourth place. Wenger knows quite well that winning at Hawthorns would be tricky given Tony Pulis’ extreme defensive tactics, which has often stopped the Gunners from finding a way in.
Arsenal scraped through a slim win in the reverse fixture when the Baggies visited the Emirates back in December, where the winning and the only goal didn’t come until the 86th minute of the game. And the North London club would expect nothing less this time. West Brom have a decent record at home collecting 26 points from 14 games and a draw is a more likely outcome, something that could be further detrimental to Arsenal’s league target.
Strongest Arsenal XI vs West Bromwich Albion (4-1-2-3)
Defence
Petr Cech is expected to start under the bar once again. A late injury to Ospina pulled him out of the FA Cup squad last week and Cech had to make some pretty important saves in the first half to keep the Gunners in the game.
Hector Bellerin will start on the right defensive flank. After facing a lot of flak for his underwhelming displays against Liverpool and Bayern Munich, the Spanish youngster looked to be back in the groove last game and Wenger would hope he is more on the offensive side as Albion’s defence will need more attempts to infiltrate. Kieran Gibbs should start on the other flank for the exact same reason.
The central defensive pairing would be Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny. The duo has been under a lot of pressure of late concerning how easily Arsenal’s defence has been penetrated repeatedly.
Midfield
We expect a more offensive approach this time. Wenger has deployed Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka in the central midfield for the past two matches with Ramsey playing the false no. 6. We expect Xhaka to be the only holding midfielder behind Mesut Ozil and Ramsey to take on the creative responsibilities.
Attack
Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott are expected to work on the wings and put in the ball for Giroud to put it in the back of the net. Giroud could play a huge role in this game given his aerial advantage.
