Arsenal will face off against Manchester United at the Emirates Stadium looking to seal a passage through to the next round of the FA Cup. The Gunners are doing well in the Premier League at the moment and are well in contention of clinching a top 4 spot at the end of this campaign.
However, the FA Cup could serve as an excellent opportunity for them to earn some silverware under Unai Emery this season. The North London giants have a rich history of finding success in this competition so they would hope that Lady Luck is shining on them this Friday so that they can get a positive result against a dangerous Man United side.
4-4-2 Arsenal Predicted Lineup To Face Manchester United
Defence
Bernd Leno will lineup in goal for Emery’s team once again this week after keeping a well-deserved clean sheet against Chelsea during his last outing. While many expect Petr Cech to make an appearance in this Cup tie, the importance of this match might see Emery choosing the German over the veteran goalie. The Arsenal boss could opt to start with the solid defensive duo of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Laurent Koscielny as he hopes to keep things tight at the back against Man United on Friday night.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles could feature as the right-back in the absence of the injured Hector Bellerin while Sead Kolasinac will operate on the other side as the left-back.
The North London outfit have had their fair share of problems defensively throughout this campaign, so they are in dire need of improving on their defensive record or else risk having another trophyless campaign at the Emirates Stadium.
Midfield
Emery could opt for a diamond set-up in midfield after it worked well against Chelsea last weekend. Granit Xhaka will be deployed as the holding midfielder while both Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi would operate with more freedom on either side of the Swiss international.
Aaron Ramsey will be given the license to express himself while he floats in and around the Red Devils penalty area.
Attack
Emery is expected to start both Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette on Friday night as both strikers are in a rich vein of form at the moment. Aubameyang is currently the Premier League’s second highest goal-scorer while Lacazette found the back of the net against the Pensioners last weekend.
