Real Football Man All of the Football, All of the time
We’ve already had one Premier League side knocked out by Non-League opposition this weekend, could we see a scoreline of National League 2 – 0 Premier League by the end of the Evening as Sutton United play host to Arsenal at the Borough Sports Ground.
Sutton United have pedigree in disposing of top flight opposition, they knocked out 1987 Cup winnners Coventry City in the 1989 Third Round, but should they pull off a win Tonight it would arguably be the biggest giantkilling in the history of the competition.
For Arsenal it’s almost the impossible tie for them, win and everyone will say ‘well it’s a game that you are expected to win anyway’ failure to win or dare I say lose and it is result that the club will arguably never live down or certainly never be allowed to forget by rival fans.
And for Arsene Wenger the potential of a cup banana skin is exactly what he does not need right now, they come into this game off the back of another Allianz Arena trouncing in midweek. It was almost like Groundhog Day as Bayern ran riot on their way to a 5-1 win.
But what a difference 45 minutes makes, going into the break at 1-1 there was some real optimism that Arsenal were not only in the tie but in the ascendancy thanks to Alexis Sanchez’s away goal and then like a house of cards it all came tumbling down.
Injury to Laurent Koscielny saw him replaced by Gabriel and it’s almost as if Bayern pounced on a perceived weakness. They took full advantage of Arsenal’s weaker backline with a trio of goals within a 10 minute period, the night had gone from good to great to bad to worse.
And once Thomas Muller had enough time to come on as a late substitute the atmosphere turned toxic. The knives were being sharpened for Arsene Wenger to leave the club by what is an ever growing vocal minority or perhaps it’s now a majority?
Wenger has said that no decision will be made until March or April and he plans on managing next season either at Arsenal or elsewhere. But if they do not dispose of Sutton United tonight then that decision to leave the club could very well be bought forward.
Hosts Sutton United have nothing to lose going into this game, they’ve already disposed of the likes of AFC Wimbledon and Leeds going into this tie and would love nothing more than to claim the biggest scalp of them all in front of their own fans.
They currently sit 17th in the National League but this cup run has been a small consequence of that, due to their extended run in this competition they still have a number of games in hand compared to the clubs around them, therefore their current position does them somewhat of a disservice.
That said their National League form is not great with no wins in their last four matches and just a solitary point has come from that run of results. It was not a romantic Valentines Day for Sutton as they lost 2-1 to Guiseley but could their be cup romance Tonight?
The unthinkable can always happen in this competition as Lincoln have proved already this past weekend but surely with the gulf in class between the two squads there is no way Arsenal can slip up here. It should be an Arsenal win, the fallout will be incredible if it isn’t
