Big opportunity, don’t waste it Arsenal.

Morning all.

Mansfield Town came out of the FA Cup pot for Arsenal on Monday night. The League One side have already beaten Harrogate Town, Accrington Stanley, Sheffield United and Burnley to get this far, the biggest scalp being in their last match of course. They were 1-0 down at Turf Moor at the weekend before winning 2-1. It’s a 5th round great tie for Mansfield Town for all sorts of reasons, certainly financially but when the fixture comes around, Arsenal need to make sure their name doesn’t become another notch on Mansfield’s footballing bedpost.

The draw in full:

• Fulham v Southampton
• Port Vale/Bristol City v Sunderland
• Newcastle United v Manchester City
• Leeds United v Norwich City
• Mansfield Town v Arsenal
• Wolves v Liverpool
• Wrexham v Chelsea
• West Ham v Brentford

There are a number of cracking ties in there, including three involving all Premier League clubs. I fancy Newcastle to get revenge against Man City after their League Cup Semi-final defeat. Liverpool and Chelsea both face tricky away games against Wolves and Wrexham respectively.

The weekend of Saturday March 7th and Sunday 8th is when the match will take place and I’m pretty sure this one will be televised.

Arsenal have a few Premier League fixtures to negotiate before then, with tonights trip to Wolves being the first.

I liked the way we played against Wigan at the weekend. Admittedly, they were not as strong as most Premier League sides but even so, there seemed to be more urgency to our play. The faffing around at the back was less obvious, probably because the opposition didn’t press us hard but even so, Kepa always appeared to be keen on a quicker release of the ball.

If we don’t want Wolves to play a defensive game, then go and get an early goal or two because then they’ll have to take more of a risk if they want to get something from the game. Then of course, space will come and bobs your uncle. Pinging the ball left, right and backwards on the halfway line or just outside their box will get us nowhere, not if Wolves have every man back defending.

Squad news from Mikel Arteta:

Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz – “No, for Wolves (Martin’s) not going to be fit, but for Sunday we’re very hopeful that he can be with us. Kai is the other one that again, for the weekend is a possibility, so looking forward to having him in the squad.”

Having Havertz and Odegaard back for the NLD would be a huge boost, especially our big German because he and Viktor Gyokeres looked like they were clicking which can only be a good thing.

Ricardo Calafiori – “He’s fine, he was training with us today. He’s feeling better and hopefully he’s fit for tomorrow.”

Ben White – “It was just a bit of fatigue, obviously he did a lot in the game. By the end of it, he was feeling a bit of tightness in the hamstring, but he’s fine.”

Good, the more options Arteta has, the better.

Arsenal huffed and puffed in this fixture at The Emirates earlier in the season, largely because Wolves deployed a defensive setup. It wasn’t until 70 minutes had passed before an own goal from a Bukayo Saka corner gave us the lead. Then right on 90 minutes, Wolves equalised. Down and out it seemed until Wolves defender Mosquera headed past his own keeper.

We had 70% possession that day, 16 attempts on goal with just 2 on target. To suggest we need to be better tonight would be an understatement.

Arsenal’s Adrian Clarke on Wolves:

Wolves are highly likely to deploy a 3-5-2 against us at Molineux. It is the manager’s preferred formation, and although Rob Edwards did adopt a back four against Chelsea, it is unusual to see him deviate away from it.

Defensively, they are relatively solid. Four teams have a worse expected goals against tally – and three have faced more shots – so their back five is well organised despite their precarious league position. Keeping two clean sheets in a row in all competitions, will also give them belief.

Angel Gomes is a new face who arrived in January, and the diminutive England international has added a calming presence in central midfield. Technically strong, he is neat and tidy in that crowded area of the pitch. Alongside him, teenager Matheus Mane is arguably Wolves’ most dangerous player. Breaking forward from midfield, he uses his speed and skill to good effect. Capable of striking shots beautifully from distance, the 18-year-old scored against West Ham United and Everton, and provided an assist in our narrow 2-1 success against Wanderers at Emirates Stadium.

Wolves are hostile off the ball. As a by-product of that aggression, they win a lot of tackles, but also make plenty of fouls; in fact they have committed 40 more of them than the next closest top-flight side.

Referee Paul Tierney could have his work cut out this evening, VAR too but as I always say, we cannot afford to give them a decision to make against us. Tonight’s game presents an opportunity to put a little pressure on Man City who play Newcastle on Saturday but only a win will do that.

So go and get it Arsenal…

Catch up in the comments.