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Arsenal vs Sunderland – Match Preview

FA Cup holders Arsenal are without forward Alexis Sanchez, who has not recovered from a hamstring injury.

Midfielder Mikel Arteta will be involved though, having played for 45 minutes on Tuesday with Arsenal U21s.

Sunderland boss Sam Allardyce says he will start with only one youngster, with keeper Jordan Pickford favourite.

They are without five players including new signing Jan Kirchhoff, fellow defender Younes Kaboul (hamstring) and midfielder Sebastian Larsson (knee).

Editor’s Note: League leaders Arsenal will look to carry their form into the F.A. Cup tomorrow as they play host to a Sunderland side who last weekend picked up a crucial home win against Aston Villa.

These two sides met in the league last month with The Gunners coming out on top with a 3-1 victory although the match was closer than the scoreline suggests but Arsene Wenger will be hoping for more of the same tomorrow afternoon.

Sam Allardyce voiced his displeasure of the scheduling of the Premier League games the following midweek so it will be interesting to see how much he rotates his squad and whether league survival will be the sole priority this season.

Alexis Sanchez is still on the sidelines but with Mesut Ozil in the form he is in they aren’t missing him too much right now. They may not have been at their best last weekend but they still came away with all 3 points.

Will Wenger also use this game as an opportunity to rest key players, he probably has more opportunity to due to the depth of squad but this isn’t a game that Arsenal will be taking lightly especially as they have won it at the last two attempts

With Sunderland more concern on staying up this season the Cup will probably be an unnecessary distraction therefore I can’t see them troubling Arsenal tomorrow. A comfortable home win for me

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