Arsenal had an extremely positive week leading up to this clash. They kick started it by beating Chelsea at the Emirates and then followed that up with a win away to Brighton. In the same time, Manchester City beat Leeds, but then drew with Nottingham Forest. Those dropped points opened up a seven point gap over the Citizens. But, the Premier League has hit pause for the upcoming weekend to allow the FA Cup to take centre stage. Arsenal are still competing in all four competitions and the FA Cup threw out an away fixture to Mansfield for the 5th round. Let’s see what they have on offer for us.

Form

Mansfield Town sit in the third tier of English football, EFL League One. Within this division they occupy 16th out of 24 teams. They’ve collected 41 points, which puts them five points above the relegation zone. They’ve won 10 games this season, drawn 11 and lost 12. In terms of goals scored, they have 39 which is average for a team in their position. What Mansfield have excelled in is their defensive prowess. For a team sitting in 16th, they’ve only conceded 37. You’d have to look all the way up to 9th for a team that’s conceded less. In fact, only six teams in the entire division have conceded less. So, despite average goal getting abilities, defending goals is where Mansfield excel.

Mansfield are on a stretch of nine league games without a win, but have drawn six of those. This means that in their last 15 matches, in all competitions, they’ve lost just three games. That’s a pretty good record for a team that are 16th in their division. They’ve drawn their last two fixtures, the most recent of which was on March 3rd and that was a 0-0 draw away to Rotherham. Of course the FA Cup is where they’ve experienced the best success. They found themselves in a monumental battle with Sheffield United in the 3rd round, winning 4-3 at Sheffield United. They were then able to dump Burnley out in the next round, winning 2-1 away at Turf Moor. The game against Arsenal will break the cycle of three FA Cup away fixtures in a row.

xG is a little harder to navigate in the lower leagues of English football as they do end up play more fixtures. However, the Nottinghamshire side have created 41 xG which is pretty average for the position they’re in. In terms of xGA, they’ve conceded 42.6 which is reasonable again. The combination of the two puts Mansfield three positions higher than they currently are with three extra points, 44.

Injuries

It seems like Mansfield have a few injuries, but nothing too serious. Nathaniel Jordan Bowery, George Mavis, Ryan Sweeney, Baily Cargill and Luke Bolton will all seemingly be missing for this fixture.

Arsenal’s absences seem a little erratic and nothing feels defined. Mikel Merino is definitely out. Ben White, Martin Odegaard and William Saliba will seemingly miss the game too. Myles Lewis-Skelly is apparently suspended as well.

Player to Watch: Rhys Oates

This guy seems to be Mansfield’s most dangerous player. He’s the clubs top scorer in the league and has 10 goals/assists across all competitions. He also scored against both Burnley and Sheffield United. In terms of general statistics, her features in the top three for these categories; goals per 90, expected goals (xG), xG per 90, expected goals on target (xGOT), shots on target per 90, shots per 90, big chances created, expected assists (xA), xA per 90, xG + xA per 90, successful dribbles per 90, penalties awarded and possession won in the final 3rd per 90. Clearly he’s one of Mansfield’s main players and that’s why he’s the one to watch.

Mansfield Predicted Lineup

This is how Mansfield lined up against Burnley, so it’d be safe to assume they’ll adopt this approach for another Premier League opponent. Although it’s labelled as a 3-4-2-1, it’ll likely end up looking closer to a 5-3-2. Oates and Evans will try and provide an outlet with McLaughlin and Akins providing width whenever they venture forward.

Arsenal Predicted Lineup

I believe that the squad will be rotated and we’ll go closer to full strength against Bayer Leverkusen. With White likely to miss out, this could be a good chance for Marli Salmon to start. Jurrien Timber and Gabriel will be waiting in the wings if we need to shuffle things around. Unfortunately with Lewis-Skelly’s suspension, we’ll have to play Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie if we want to give Gabriel a rest. Christian Norgaard, Eberechi Eze and Max Dowman would complete my midfield. Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus all started against Portsmouth which saw us win 4-1. I’d think Mikel Arteta will trust this trio. Kai Havertz will likely see some minutes as he phases himself back into action. All of our fit, big hitters will sit on the bench if we desperately need them. I’d hope we don’t need them and we can rest them all for Leverkusen.

Predicted Result: Mansfield 0-3 Arsenal

It’ll be a professional performance from Arsenal. Mansfield will come out the blocks fast and the stadium will be rocking. The Gunners need to manage the crowd and get the job done. They won’t have the luxury of a Premier League pitch, so the ball won’t fall how they’d expect. However, they’re professional footballers, so they should be able to adjust to the terrain. Our second string haven’t let us down yet and I don’t believe they will this time. Most of them will have something to prove as they want to nail down a regular position in the starting lineup for other competitions. Hopefully we can use a few of our most exciting academy prospects, especially Max Dowman. Let’s get it!