FA Cup glory helped to keep Arsene Wenger in a job last season, and the holders start the defence of their crown in 2018 with a trip to Nottingham Forest.
Arsenal are the most successful side in the competition’s grand history, with 13 triumphs to their name, lifting the famous trophy at Wembley in three of the last four campaigns.
The Gunners also have a Carabao Cup semi-final clash with London rivals Chelsea to come after taking on Forest, with domestic knockout football once again offering hope to Wenger’s side amid another failed attempt to force themselves into Premier League title contention.
ARSENAL INJURIES
Arsenal are set to be without a number of senior stars at the City Ground, with the Gunners having seen the likes of Olivier Giroud, Laurent Koscielny, Aaron Ramsey, Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac pick up untimely injuries.
Wenger would have likely looked to shuffle his pack in the cup regardless, but he must now decide how experimental to go in his plans - with Granit Xhaka also ruled out with a slight groin problem.
Getty Images
ARSENAL SUSPENSIONS
Arsenal have no suspended players, but Wenger will be missing from the dugout in the wake of his post-match actions at West Brom.
The Frenchman was charged by the Football Association with misconduct after angrily confronting referee Mike Dean and entering the match officials’ room after the game, resulting in a three-match touchline ban being handed out.
ARSENAL STARTING LINE-UP
With fitness issues having mounted for Arsenal over recent weeks, they have been left rather short on numbers at a hectic stage of the season.
Wenger, though, will still make sweeping alterations to his side, with it hoped that a fielding a makeshift XI will not run the risk of suffering an early upset.
Below is a potential Arsenal XI for the game.
Playing Surface
NOTTINGHAM FOREST TEAM NEWS
Republic of Ireland international Daryl Murphy sat out a New Year’s Day draw with Leeds, but he should shake off a knock to come back into contention.
Matts Mills and Jack Hobbs remain on the sidelines, though, meaning caretaker boss Gary Brazil must decide whether to keep faith with those who ground out a 0-0 stalemate at Elland Road or mix things up in his second game at the helm.
Getty
TV CHANNEL & KICK OFF TIME
The match takes place at 16:00 GMT (11:00 ET) on Sunday and will be shown live in the UK on BT Sport 2. Highlights can be caught on BBC's Match of the Day 2 at 22:30 GMT.
In the United States (US), FA Cup matches can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS
-
Nottingham Forest have won one of their last 14 matches against the Gunners in all competitions (D4 L9), and lost 4-0 at the City Ground in the League Cup last season..
-
Arsenal have twice eliminated Nottingham Forest from the FA Cup, in 1978-79 and 1992-93 – they went on to win the trophy in both of those seasons.
-
Forest have kept clean sheets in eight of their last 12 home FA Cup games.
-
Arsene Wenger has never been eliminated in the third round of the FA Cup – Arsenal’s last failure to progress was in their last third round tie before Wenger’s appointment, losing to Sheffield United in 1995-96
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)
.jpg?auto=webp&format=pjpg&width=640&quality=60)
