Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger fears the threat of Odion Ighalo when the Gunners take on Watford in the FA Cup quarterfinals on Sunday.
Arsenal, in search of their third FA Cup success in as many years, came through a replay at Hull in midweek to set up a clash with Premier League rivals Watford.
Wenger lost both of his centre-backs on Tuesday as Gabriel and Per Mertesacker were forced off with injuries.
The Frenchman is wary of the threat the Watford’s Ighalo and his striking partner Troy Deeney can possess — with the visitors looking to spring a surprise by knocking out the record 12-time winners of the trophy on Sunday.
“They have done extremely well,” Wenger said of Watford’s first season back in the top flight. “It looks like the Championship teams that come up now deal very well with the Premier League regime.
“You have Watford who are doing extremely well. They are very prepared and very efficient. They have two strikers who are very efficient with Ighalo and Deeney and we worked very hard to control the game [last time we played them].
“They give us a tough time. When we played against Watford in the Premier League, Deeney had not scored I think for a long time. After us he started to score but during the game I was impressed by him. He’s a good player.
“They have a very good understanding between the strikers and the quality between our two centre-backs will be vital on Sunday.”
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