How Arsenal Will Line Up To Face Watford – Make Shift Defence, Campbell And Iwobi To Start

Arsenal will play their second FA Cup tie of the week when they take on Watford at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. The Gunners played their fifth round replay against Hull City in midweek and secured a comfortable 4-0 victory over the Championship team. They are looking to win the FA Cup for the third season in a row and are currently unbeaten in their last 14 Cup matches. Both Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott netted twice against Hull City in what was an excellent performance by the North London team following a tough couple of months.

Goalkeeper: David Ospina

Ospina was excellent against Tottenham last weekend and even made a brilliant stop to deny Hull taking the lead against Arsenal on Tuesday. With Cech currently injured and no other viable option, Ospina is certain to start again this weekend against Watford.

Defenders: Per Mertesacker, Paulista, Gibbs and Calum Chambers

With a match against Barcelona on the horizon, Wenger is likely to rest most of his first team starters. Therefore Gibbs and Chambers should continue as the two full backs, as Monreal and Bellerin enjoy that much needed rest after what has been a tough season. Both Mertesacker and Paulista suffered minor injuries on Tuesday and had to come off but Wenger assured the fans today that both the centre backs should be fit enough to start on Sunday and there is nothing major to worry out.

However, Koscielny is expected to be fit for the game against Catalans, hence both these players will be left fighting to partner the Frenchman come Wednesday.

Midfielders: Elneny, Coquelin, Iwobi, Joel Campbell and Alexis Sanchez

The only set back that Wenger faced after the Hull City game was the injury that Aaron Ramsey sustained in the second half on Tuesday. He is expected to miss out on a large chunk of the remaining season. In central midfield we could see the return of Coquelin who is back available after serving out his one match ban. He will most likely partner Elneny in the middle, the Egyptian was excellent against Hull and looks a good prospect for the gunners.

One player who really caught the eye last time around was Iwobi and he will maintain his place in the team as the number 10. We might see Sanchez returning to the starting XI for this one as he will try to get back to his best before facing his former club. On the other wing Campbell will start ahead of Walcott, who despite scoring two goals in the last match looked very ordinary.

Striker: Olivier Giroud

Giroud scored two very well taken goals on Tuesday, therefore Wenger is likely to give him another run in the team before he makes the big decision about who start against Barcelona.