Hull City vs. Arsenal: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
Arsenal travel to Hull City in the FA Cup aiming for a win to keep alive what could be their last realistic hope of silverware.
With leaders Leicester City now eight points ahead of the Gunners in the Premier League, the cup once again represents their best chance of landing a trophy. However, Arsene Wenger will be taking nothing for granted against a Hull side that ran them very close at the Emirates Stadium.
Hull’s own form has begun to stutter in the Championship, so they may see this fifth-round replay as a bit of an untimely distraction. Nevertheless, they’ll be acutely aware that a win over Arsenal could be just what’s required to ignite their season and inject some momentum into their promotion push.
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Date: Tuesday, March 8
Time: 7:00 p.m. GMT/2:00 p.m. ET
Location: KC Stadium, Hull
Television coverage: BT Sport 1 / BT Sport 1 HD (U.K. only), FOX Sports 2 (U.S. only)
Streaming: BT Sport app (U.K. only), FOX Soccer 2Go (U.S. only)
Form
Hull City
D (0-0) vs. Brighton and Hove Albion
D (0-0) vs. Arsenal
W (0-1) vs. Ipswich Town
D (0-0) vs. Sheffield Wednesday
L (1-0) vs. Birmingham City
Arsenal
D (0-0) vs. Hull City
L (0-2) vs. Barcelona
L (3-2) vs. Manchester United
L (1-2) vs. Swansea City
D (2-2) vs. Tottenham Hotspur
When outside the Premier League, Hull have failed in 15 FA Cup attempts to beat top-flight opposition. Their last giant-killing was a victory over West Ham United in February 1973.
Arsenal have a strong record at the KC Stadium. They have won on each of their last five visits there, scoring at least two goals in each game.
The Managers
At a time when Wenger has found himself the subject of plenty of criticism, he has found an ally in Hull counterpart Steve Bruce.
Per Sky Sports, Bruce said:
"When you are a manager as long as he has been and see what he has achieved, and what he has been able to do at Arsenal, who is anybody to criticise him?
I find that really appalling, that people can criticise him. He has helped build a fantastic club, he has helped finance it, he has had to sell players.
He has never been able to really compete the way everyone else has at a top club but he has kept them in the top four for 17, 18 years.
From me, he will only get one thing, which is respect. I think he deserves a bit more than he gets dished out, considering what he has achieved.
"
Wenger’s latest achievement is to win two consecutive FA Cups, and come Tuesday night he will have his focus on completing a remarkable hat-trick.
With so much still potentially at stake in the Premier League, he knows he’ll have to rotate his XI—but he sounds determined not to use that as an excuse.
Per Arsenal.com, Wenger said:
"I have to rotate a little bit and keep the right balance in the team. I will have to but I’m not so much concerned about replacing one player with another one.
We will play a team that has a good chance of qualifying, no matter who plays. David Ospina was an example of that on Saturday. I have the same respect for everyone and the same idea that all the players I have in my squad can play and win the game.
We are in a position where we always have to win the next game. It is always the most important game of our life because it is treated like that by everybody else. That’s the way we treat it. It’s the most important game of the season for us because it’s the next one.
"
After four games without a win, victory at Hull would certainly alleviate some of the pressure on the under-fire Frenchman.
Team News
Hull City
Bruce is in the fortunate position of having a fully fit squad to choose from. Given the club’s promotion ambitions, he is likely to take the opportunity to rotate his squad.
Hull did exactly that in the last game at the Emirates, and yet came away with a highly creditable 0-0 draw. Bruce is likely to reward most of those players with another opportunity to impress, meaning rare starts for the likes of Shaun Maloney and Nick Powell.
Predicted Hull City XI (4-4-1-1): Eldin Jakupovic; Ryan Taylor, Harry Maguire, Alex Bruce, Curtis Davies; Ahmed Elmohamady, Shaun Maloney, David Meyler, Nick Powell; Sone Aluko; Adama Diomande.
Arsenal
Having endured a gruelling north London derby at the weekend, Arsenal will make plenty of changes for this match. The likes of Calum Chambers, Joel Campbell and Alex Iwobi can all be expected to play to afford rest to Hector Bellerin, Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and others.
One man who certainly won’t play is Francis Coquelin, who is suspended after his red card at Spurs. His place is likely to go to fellow Frenchman Mathieu Flamini.
Predicted Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): David Ospina; Calum Chambers, Per Mertesacker, Gabriel Paulista, Kieran Gibbs; Mathieu Flamini, Mohamed Elneny; Joel Campbell, Alex Iwobi, Alexis Sanchez; Olivier Giroud.
Players to watch
Hull City: Eldin Jakupovic
According to BBC Sport, back-up goalkeeper Eldin Jakupovic made 11 saves against Arsenal in the 0-0 draw between these two teams at the Emirates Stadium.
It was a remarkable performance, and arguably the best made by any goalkeeper against the Gunners this season.
Jakupovic will be mindful that he may have to produce a similarly superb display at the KC Stadium if Hull are to make it through to the next round.
Arsenal: Alex Iwobi
Young Nigerian midfielder Iwobi is set to earn another start in this breakthrough campaign.
Per Arsenal.com, Wenger eulogised about his rare combination of industry and invention:
"What I see in [Iwobi] is a creative player who has a high work-rate and a good team spirit. I think he’s a player who develops very well because he has a big passion for the game and he can score goals as well. He can play on the flanks, he can play through the middle, he’s a very interesting player.
"
In the likely absence of Ozil, the 19-year-old’s ability to break down a defence with skill and imagination will be hugely important.
Iwobi will be more motivated to win than most: He’ll know that a good performance against Hull should allow him yet more game-time in the next round.
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.
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