The weekend is finally upon us and it’s time for some footballing action, as Arsenal try to get one step closer in retaining their FA Cup crown when they take on Reading at Wembley on Saturday evening.
The Gunners have been flying ever since the turn of the year and will look to get past a determined Reading side. The Royals are struggling this season and are currently lying in 18th position in the Championship standings, but they have been impressive in the FA Cup so far, getting past the lower league opposition with relative ease.
Arsenal on the other hand are on an 8 game winning streak which is their best since the ever-green Invincible’s season, which shows how good we have been in the past few months. The North London club on paper seems hands on favourites to march into the finals, but it’s never easy to get past lower league opposition as they always seems to bring their best and give tough some competition to their much more fancied opposition, the magic which FA Cup always seems to bring.
I doubt that this game would be any different, as being the favourites doesn’t really matter and all that matters is how you perform on that given day, to which last year’s Semifinals and Finals are clear example of. We took on Wigan at the same stage season last year and the players had to sweat it out which ultimately Arsenal won by virtue of penalties.
The Final was not any different as Hull City came all guns blazing and took a 2 goal lead within the first half hour, but lost out to the Gunners in extra time thanks to Ramsey winner. I know we are the superior team and Reading are unlikely to cause us much trouble, but the players shouldn’t be complacent which I hope they won’t.
Coming to the team news, there won’t be many changes to the squad from the Burnley game I assume, except for Szczesny coming back and may be Debuchy in place of Bellerin, as the Spaniard seemed a bit jaded in defence against Burnley. I would love to see Wenger giving Welbeck and Walcott a chance to impress, as the duo have spent most of the time this year on the bench.
Here is a stat that will make many fans happy. Arsenal have played the Royals 12 times so far and the Gunners have won all the games so far scoring 38 and conceding just 12. Don’t get too comfortable guys, remember the 7-5 win against Reading 2 years back in the Carling Cup?. It was one of the greatest comebacks in the modern history as we came from 4-0 down to clinch the game. It was one of a hell of a game and I would love to see a repeat today, hold on, it doesn’t need to be so tenacious as that one.
Elsewhere we also have a big game in the Premier League to watch out for as United take on Chelsea and hopefully the Red Devils will clinch some points away from the Blues, which ultimately mean that our title hopes will be still be alive atleast until next weekend when we take on Chelsea. Our prediction for today’s game is 3-1 win in favour of Arsenal.
Can Arsenal continue their winning run against Reading?
