Arsenal vs. Man City
Venue: Wembley Stadium
Kick off: 3PM
Two of English football’s heavyweight sides face off in the second of the FA Cup semi-finals today, as 12-time winners Arsenal take on Manchester City at Wembley Stadium.
The Gunners are seeking what would be a record 13th triumph in the competition, moving them ahead of Manchester United in that regard, while City – also out of the Premier League title picture – are on course for a sixth success.
Not since 1995-96, the season before boss Arsene Wenger took charge of the club, have Arsenal finished outside of the Premier League’s top four.
With just a month of the campaign left to go, though, that laudable run appears increasingly likely to be coming to an end.
The Gunners trail fourth-placed City by seven points in the race for European football, while Man United are also better placed three points further ahead, meaning that the FA Cup has become the be all and end all for Wenger in his 21st season at the helm.
While Arsenal boast impressive pedigree in the FA Cup, particularly in recent years, Man City has gone all the way just once since the end of the 1960s – 2010-11, when overcoming Manchester United and Stoke City in the semi-final and final respectively.
City manager Pep Guardiola will not be looking beyond this weekend for now, and of the two sides it is City who have had the tougher run to this stage, beating three Premier League sides compared to Arsenal’s one – a 5-0 thumping of Southampton in round four the standout result of the competition as far as the Gunners are concerned.
Arsenal Possible XI: Cech, Gabriel, Koscielny, Holding, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ramsey, Xhaka, Monreal, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud.
Man City XI: Bravo, Navas, Otamendi, Kompany, Clichy, Fernandinho, Sane, Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling, Aguero.