The beauty of the FA Cup comes alive in the weekend as smaller teams aim to knock out the Premier League big boys, Arsenal face a tricky tie as they take on a Middlesbrough side who in their last FA Cup match were able to knock out Manchester City at the Etihad by winning 2-0, quite an impressive performance and with Arsenal struggling to beat Leicester City recently, it could be another tie where the Premier League team will have to wary of the threat from the Championship side, keeping in mind that the FA Cup has a history of upsets, here are 3 things that Arsenal need to know as they face Middlesbrough.
1. No fear against the big clubs
Aitor Karanka’s side have been exceptional in their games in cups and have proven to be tough opposition no matter where they end up playing. Borough were given away ties in the 3rd and 4th round of the FA Cup and were able to dispatch the opposition rather easily, especially their impressive performance against Manchester City.
They even took Liverpool all the way to a penalty shootout earlier in the League Cup and although the Championship side lost out to the Reds in a rather remarkable shootout, they will be up for another cup outing against a Premier League big boy.
2. Top of the table heading to the Premier League
Middlesbrough are unbeaten in their last 10 games and are striving hard to get back into the Premier League, they are on top of the Championship and this would be another test of the side’s credentials as to how they would cope with regular Premier League football.
Karanka has made them a tough outfit to play against and they have only lost once since mid-October and have won 5 in a row in the league, Arsenal have been warned, this game would not be easy for them and they would need to keep a look out for the Middlesbrough strikers who will be looking to make a nuisance of themselves.
3. Middlesbrough actually have a decent record against Arsenal
Although Middlesbrough have not been in the Premier League since they got relegated in the 2008-09 season, they still have a decent record when facing Arsenal, in their last 10 meetings against the Gunners in the Premier League, Middlesbrough have only lost four times and have won twice with 4 draws between the clubs.
In fact Middlesbrough have won nearly 1/4th of the matches they have faced against Arsenal in their history and were one of Arsenal’s bogey teams until their relegation. With new vigour, fresh faces and an element of surprise in their team, they would be looking to do another one on Arsenal in the FA Cup, Arsenal should be aware of exactly what they are going to face.
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