Mikel Arteta has named a surprisingly strong side to take on Leeds United in the FA Cup Third Round at the Emirates Stadium.
Nicolas Pepe, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette all start in attack for the Spaniard as he deploys a brand new tactical system. The trio are likely to feature as the front three in a 3-4-3 - Ozil behind Pepe and Lacazette.
Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka will be tasked with controlling the midfield as Reiss Nelson and Sead Kolasinac play as wing-backs. Wing-back may seem like an unusual position for Nelson but he has played well there before under Arsene Wenger in the 2017/18 season.
The three-man defence will consist of David Luiz, Sokratis and the returning Rob Holding. They play in front of Emi Martinez in goal.
Arsenal's intentions to go out strongly in the FA Cup was evident before their team announcement, however. In his programme notes, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang made it clear just what Arsenal's aims in the competition are.
"We have won it more than any other club in England and we place a lot of importance on it again this season. We want to win it and I would love to lift the FA Cup at Wembley!" he told .
"We can't take this game for granted. We need to put a good run of results together now, whatever the competition."
"So we have to to build on the Manchester United game by producing a similar performance against Leeds and then at Crystal Palace next weekend."
Although Arsenal's last game came five days ago - the New Years' Day victory over Manchester United - some fans were expecting a more heavily rotated side for Leeds.
Having just three games under his belt, Arteta may still be wanting to instil certain methods into his forward players, but with Leeds being top of the Championship, not underestimating them will be important.
Arteta's first game as Arsenal captain came in that iconic match against Leeds in 2012 and of course, he went on to win the competition twice as a player at the club.
Before this meeting with Leeds, the Spaniard has reflected on the memories the FA Cup gave him while at Arsenal.
"The FA Cup will always have a special place in my heart, as it was the first trophy I won at Arsenal," he said.
"When Hull scored to make it 2-0, I genuinely couldn’t believe it. I kept asking myself ‘this cannot be happening? Surely?!’ because I was so desperate to win and in the space of 10 minutes we found ourselves in the most ridiculous situation.
"Aaron eventually scored the winner in stoppage time and looking back, it probably couldn’t have ended in a better way. That turnaround was amazing and it’s a game I’ll never forget."
