Sports Blog 20/02/2017: FA Cup 5th Round Preview – Sutton United vs Arsenal, Monday 20th February 2017

Are Sutton United in for an FA Cup thrashing as Arsenal try and rid themselves of some German demons at 7.55pm on BBC One?

The Gunners put in a quintessentially ‘Arsenal’ European performance on Wednesday, a well fought 1-1 draw at half time followed by an abject collapse that left Bayern Munich with a 5-1 win and one foot in the quarter-finals. The pressure was already on Arsene Wenger heading into that game; now speculation about his position at the club has become deafening, the sports pages littered with think pieces on if, when and should he end his tenure at the Emirates.



All of this makes what would normally be a lucky draw against a non-league side into a larger part of Wenger’s supposed fall from grace. Must win doesn’t even cover it – a loss on Monday night would be a catastrophe. To go one further, given the fact that the winner will host Lincoln City (the first non-league side to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 103 years), it will be a near unforgivable sin if the Gunners fail to reach not only the next round, but the semi-finals.

There are also no real excuses for Wenger not to send out a full strength side either. Thanks to Southampton’s appearance in the EFL Cup final, Arsenal’s trip to St Mary’s has been postponed, meaning their next game isn’t until the 4th March. And while Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil aren’t likely to appear, the likes of Olivier Giroud (at an eye-watering Super Mega PGM of 89-104), Danny Welbeck (at 58-68) and Theo Walcott (at 56-66) should all be enough to overwhelm Sutton. There could even be a rare start for Lucas Perez who, according to his agent, wants to leave Arsenal ‘at any cost’; the Spaniard sits at a Super Mega PGM of 53-61.

This arguably all works in Sutton’s favour. While they are quite firmly the underdogs, hosting a side as shaken as Arsenal, on an artificial surface Wenger has already voiced his displeasure with, does leave the chance for a major upset. That, or an absolute pasting, with Spreadex offering an Arsenal/Sutton United Goal Supremacy spread of 2.65-2.85 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.75-3.95.