England FA Cup 3rd Round (04-08. January)

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Arsenal vs Liverpool Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Arsenal:
Ramsdale; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Kiwior; Odegaard, Rice, Havertz; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli

Liverpool:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Gomez; Jones, Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Elliott, Nunez, Diaz

Arsenal and Liverpool will fight for a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The Gunners are in some sort of crisis at the moment, winning just one of the last six matches across all competitions. What is worse, they suffered two defeats on the last two matches. Arteta's men first lost 2:0 to West Ham and then suffered another defeat at Craven Cottage. Everything started well for Arsenal as Bukayo Saka scored after just five minutes, but Fulham didn't give up and managed to turn out the result. Arsenal squandered the chance to end a second successive calendar year at the top of the table and have dropped to the fourth position. Arteta has some additional concerns as lot of players are unavailable. Takehiro Tomiyasu is now on Asian Cup duty with Japan, while midfielder Mohamed Elneny is away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt. Thomas Partey is yet to return to full training, while Jurrien Timber and Fabio Vieira are definitely sidelined. Finally, Oleksandr Zinchenko is rated as doubtful with a calf injury.

Liverpool were surprisingly good this season and finished as leaders in the Premier League. Furthermore, they secured semi-finals of the EFL Cup and progressed to the knock-out stage of UEFA Europa League. Jurgen Klopp is doing a fantastic job and the fans are satisfied. Liverpool enter a fourth tournament of the campaign with their trip to the Emirates Stadium and this could be a problem. The German coach dismissed the notion that competing on fourth fronts this season may have a negative impact, but I think different. Liverpool roster is not big after some players left the club last year, while the injuries make additional problem. None of Kostas Tsimikas, Thiago Alcantara, Stefan Bajcetic, Andy Robertson, Ben Doak or Joel Matip will play in this match, while Dominik Szoboszlai is rated as doubtful after limped out of the Newcastle win with hamstring injury. In addition, Wataru Endo is set for international duty with Japan as they compete at the AFC Asian Cup, while Mohamed Salah is away with Egypt at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Arsenal vs Liverpool Prediction:

Liverpool will feel the absence of key player Mohamed Salah. Of course, they remain competitive even with a rotated side, but his absence makes the difference. The Reds’ No.11 has, as ever, been in excellent form this season, contributing 18 goals and eight assists in all competitions so far. In addition, Arsenal have the home advantage and this fact should not be underestimated. I think Arsenal are closer to the victory.

Arsenal vs Liverpool Pick: Arsenal to win @ 1.96 with Pinnacle

 

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Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United Preview:

Possible starting lineup:

Wigan Athletic:
Tickle; Clare, Hughes, Morrison, Sessegnon; Shaw, Adeeko; McManaman, Lang, Godo; Magennis

Manchester United:
Onana; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Evans, Dalot; McTominay, Mainoo; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Hojlund

Wigan Athletic welcome Manchester United at the DW Stadium in a FA Cup third-round contest on Monday evening. The hosts are part of League One, however they should not be underestimated. Even more, Wigan famously won the FA Cup in 2012-13 season, beating Manchester City in the final. The fans will come in big number hoping the actual squad could upset the wounded Giant. Wigan are in solid form at the moment, they have one win and one draw on the last two matches in League One. They beat 2:0 Carlisle thanks to first-half goals scored by Josh Magennis and Liam Morrison, while in the last round shared the points with Burnsley. Jonathan Smith was the hero on that match after scoring the equalizer in the last minute. The Latics sit on the 17th place on the table with 27 points from their 25 league games. Just to mention, they started the campaign on minus eight points due to financial issues. Manager Shaun Maloney could be satisfied with the form of his team, though he has some issues ahead of this match. He will be without Tom Pearce and Jason Kerr due to injuries, while Stephen Humphrys and Scott Smith are both rated as doubtful. James Balagizi is unavailable as his loan spell ended last week. Josh Magennis is expecting to lead the line.

This is another disappointing season for Manchester United. They are out of the title race, while suffered elimination from the Champions League and Carabao Cup. That means the FA Cup is their only chance for silverware this season. Another failure could provoke Erik ten Hag's change from the managerial duty. Most probably the Dutchman will play with the strongest eleven here. The Red Devils will enter this match off the back of a painful 2:1 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. It was their 14th defeat in all competitions this season and the fans are frustrated. At the moment United are big nine points behind fourth-placed Arsenal. Nevertheless, the arrival of Sir Jim Ratcliffe as a minority shareholder has seemingly lifted spirits at Old Trafford. Ratcliffe visited Carrington last week, and he impressed the players and coaching staff. Ten Hag has lot of issues ahead of this match. Sofyan Amrabat is on international duty with Morocco, while some are struggling with injury - Luke Shaw, Tyrell Malacia, Lisandro Martinez, Mason Mount, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Casemiro and Anthony Martial. Rasmus Hojlund, who missed out against Forest due to illness, is set to return to the squad for this match.

Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United Prediction:

Manchester United have lifted the FA Cup on 12 occasions, with their last success coming in 2015-16 season when Jose Mourinho was in charge. I think Erik ten Hag will like to repeat the success, particularly because the FA Cup is their only chance for silverware this year. That means the Dutchman will play with the strongest eleven. There is a class difference between these two teams, so I expect Manchester United to win here. I believe they will cover the handicap.

Wigan Athletic vs Manchester United Pick: Manchester United -1.5 AH @ 1.67 with Pinnacle