Many an Arsenal fan has recently been spending time in the Transfer Tavern drowning their sorrows following the seemingly yearly derailing of their season.
It was, of course, a promising season for the Gunners faithful but yet again the north London side have seemed to choke and our landlord is welcoming the Arsenal punters to the last chance saloon with the FA Cup being their only realistic chance of silverware for this season.
It just seems to be one thing after another for the Gunners with the dire performances against their league rivals combined with the thrashing received by Bayern in the Champions League.
Then to top things off the futures of Arsene Wenger, Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Özil are all up in the air. It really is hard for Arsenal fans at the moment.
However, Arsenal welcome non-league Lincoln City to the Emirates for the 6th round of the FA Cup and although it is a potential banana skin for the Gunners – it is also a chance for them to prove their class and progress to the next round.
With all that said, our landlord has put together the side he expects Arsene Wenger to put out against Lincoln this weekend…
GK: David Ospina
Opsina is Wenger’s man for the Champions League as well as the FA Cup so Arsenal punters in the Tavern expect that to stay the same here.
RB: Gabriel Paulista
Gabriel has acted as a make shift right back for the Gunners this season and our landlord expects him to play to enable Hector Bellerin to be rested.
CB: Per Mertesacker
The Arsenal captain has missed most of the season with injury and will relish the chance to lead Arsenal in this cup tie.
CB: Rob Holding
Wenger will see this game as a perfect opportunity to further Holding’s education as he looks to fulfill his potential.
LB: Nacho Monreal
With Wenger rotating between Monreal and Kieran Gibbs in the recent weeks, our landlord expects Monreal to play this one.
CDM: Mohamed Elneny
Scorer in the AFCON final, Elneny has not managed to re-establish himself in the Arsenal starting XI since returning from the tournament.
CDM: Granit Xhaka
A game where Xhaka should really show his ability and dominate the game, our landlord believes that Gunners fans can expect a masterclass from the Swiss international here.
RAM: Theo Walcott
Scorer in the last two rounds including a hat-trick against former club Southampton in the fourth round, Walcott will be on the hunt for more goals against non-league Lincoln.
CAM: Mesut Özil
Not selected for Liverpool and Bayern due to illness, Özil should have a chance of featuring at the weekend and Lincoln will have to be careful of the creativity of the German.
LAM: Lucas Perez
Lucas has been mighty impressive in the FA Cup this year, opening the scoring in the last round against Sutton and Wenger will give him another chance to impress here.
ST: Danny Welbeck
Arsenal fans in the Tavern have been thrilled to see Welbeck back and he simply has not looked like he has missed as much football as he has, expect him to lead the line against Lincoln.
