Tomorrow afternoon Arsenal face Everton in the Quarter Final of the FA Cup.
Considering Liverpool demolished Everton in the league and we beat Liverpool both times we played them at the Emirates this should be a win for the boys in red...right?
True, Everton have been considerably weakened by injury to their first choice centreback Phil Jagielka and their form in the league has been a bit mixed of late but then again we haven't exactly been playing well at the moment either.
A poor performance against Stoke and a disappointing first round tie in the Champions League marked a stuttering end to February, traditionally Arsenal's poorest month.
But if tradition and form are to be believed then Arsenal fans should begin preparing for a storming last ten games, topped with the prospect of a couple of days at Wembley. If there is a God can you please postpone your lunchtime squash session with Rocky and make it happen.
The Lovely Reds was up at Wembley for the Capital One Cup final doing some filming and generally taking in the atmosphere and although memories of our 2010 Cup final disaster still cause us to wake up screaming there really isn't anything quite like the cup.
Ok there is, big Champions League nights and certain derby's spring to mind but none have the possibility of a pay-off so huge that you could strap it to Big Boy waving a cowboy hat as it plummets to the ground.
I know we're in contention for the league but think about it, we still have to play City, Chelsea, Spurs and a host of other teams who may be fighting for survival come May. Compare this with the FA Cup whose only fierce competitor is City and you understand why it might be our best chance at silverware for a decade.
Given the choice of course we'd take the league, but if a handsome man lured you to a Soho sidestreet, opened his tan trench coat and whispered softly, '4th in the league and an FA Cup, or 2nd and no cup' we'd pay £20 and enjoy the ride all the same.
So victory in the Cup it has to be and that means seeing off the latest in a long line of challengers. Few will have forgotten our encounter at the Emirates in which Everton looked the better side for most of the first half, before Arsenal regained control in the second. Leading through an Ozil goal until the 84th minute when a lapse in concentration allowed Everton to take a point after Barcelona starlet Gerard Deulofeu struck the equaliser from 8 yards out.
All the same our squad has taken a knock with the frustrating news that Wilshere suffered a hairline fracture during England's friendly with Denmark and is out for at least 6 weeks (it's always 6 weeks!) We wouldn't be surprised if Wilshere is out until the end of the season, especially considering he has the potential to feature in all of England's unsuccessful World Cup group matches.
Ramsey is supposed to be fit for our derby match against Spurs but until then we would assume that Wenger will call upon the Ox to play alongside Arteta in midfield and give Serge Gnabry a run out on the wing. Aside from that we can't imagine too many other changes. The same back five that has seen us through so far with Fabianski assuming responsibilty between the sticks. In midfield we are likely to see a combination of Arteta, Ozil, Cazorla, Ox, Gnabry and Flamini with the habitual inclusion of Podolski around 70 minutes leaving the handsome Frenchman upfront to lead the line.
We have to start strongly. In matches where we really press and play the ball quickly other teams are put on the back foot and that's where we have to keep Everton. We know they possess enough quality to beat us if we have a sub standard game.
Toe-to-toe we have just enough to beat the Toffees, especially considering injuries to Jagielka and their reserve striker Traore. However a recent return for striker Romelu Lukaku does not bode well as he scored in last week's victory over West Ham and we can remember him getting a flick at the near post for Everton's goal at the Emirates. We have to believe that Mertesacker and Koscielny have been training and have learnt to deal with their main threat which is whipping in dangerous crosses.
Keep your eyes peeled for The Lovely Reds tomorrow, we'll be at the game doing some filming and conducting some interviews. If you want to air any thoughts about the team and our Cup/ Title aspirations come over and say hi.
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