🕟 Kick Off: 12:15 GMT

🏟️ Venue: One Call Stadium

📺 UK Broadcaster: TNT Sports

🙎🏻‍♂️ Referee: Thomas Bramall

📹 VAR: Not in operation

🔴 Arsenal Team News:

• Myles Lewis-Skelly: Suspended; picked up yellow cards in both previous rounds and is ineligible for tomorrow.
• William Saliba (Ankle): Major doubt; nursing a twisted ankle from the Chelsea game. Unlikely to be risked ahead of the Leverkusen trip.
• Martin Ødegaard (Knee): Major doubt; still being assessed for “comfort” during certain actions. A late decision is expected.
• Ben White (Muscle): Major doubt; has missed several matches with an unspecified muscle problem and remains “touch and go.”
• Mikel Merino (Foot): Ruled out long-term following surgery; return targeted for late April.

⚽ Arsenal Form: 🟩🟩🟩🟧🟩

🦌 Mansfield Team News:

• Luke Bolton (Other): Sustained a knock against Rotherham on Tuesday; faces a late fitness test tomorrow morning.
• Baily Cargill (Hamstring): Ruled out; continuing his rehabilitation.
• Ryan Sweeney (Hamstring): Ruled out; expected to miss the next few weeks.

⚽ Mansfield Form: 🟧🟧🟥🟥🟩

⚔️ Head-to-Head:

• Arsenal 2–0 Mansfield Town (January 26, 1929, FA Cup 4th Round)

📖 Match Facts:

• Arsenal have never visited the One Call Stadium, also known as Field Mill, in their history.
• Mansfield reached the 5th round by eliminating Burnley and Sheffield United in the previous rounds.
• Arsenal has not been knocked out of the FA Cup by a team from the third tier or lower since losing to Wrexham in 1992.

📸 Previously in this fixture…

The two teams last faced off in the 4th round of the 1928-1929 FA Cup at Highbury. The lineup for Arsenal was Dan Lewis, Tom Parker, Eddie Hapgood, Jack Butler, Charles Jones, Joe Hulme, James Brain, David Jack, Harold Burston Peel, Alf Baker and Billy Blyth.

Goals from Harold Burston Peel and David Jack secured a 2-0 victory for Arsenal. We would go on to be knocked out by Aston Villa in a 1-0 loss in the Quarter Finals. Bolton Wanderers went on to win the competition with a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth in the final.

✍🏼 Pre-Match Ramblings

First of all, isn’t that picture incredible? That we have a photo from this fixture 97 years ago that I can show you today is just fantastic. Massive thanks to the media team at Arsenal for providing this image for the Pre Match Thread!

We finally get a break from the Premier League after a fantastic gameweek which saw us rattle a Premier League manager more than I’ve ever seen before, with City dropping points at home to Forest, and Spurs now 1 point above relegation, we couldn’t really have asked for much more. A visit to League One side Mansfield is a welcome respite from the relentless pressure facing Arsenal in their pursuit of a league title.

Mansfield have been punching above their weight this year in the FA Cup, beating Burnley and Sheffield United to get this far in the competiton. Mansfield haven’t made it this far in the competition since 1975, and they have made it past this round just once in 1969 (nice).

This is actually the farthest we have reached in the competition since we won it in 2020. We’ve had a pretty dire time in the FA Cup since then, but we have faced United, City, and Liverpool in the last three years before we had a chance to get this far. A deep run in the FA Cup is always fun, especially because we are so synonymous with the competition.

We have built a large squad over the years to be able to handle all four competitions, and I expect we will see Arteta heavily rotate. The lack of Lewis Skelly is gutting, it really isn’t his season, but I guess he’s the one who got himself suspended. I expect Kepa will start, with Mosquera, Norgaard, Dowman, Jesus (or Havertz?) all shoo-ins to be in the starting lineup. We may even see the likes of Marli Salmon in with a chance to start here.