Szczesny-back-in-for-boro-clash

"We won't be surprised by them," said Arsene Wenger at his news conference on Friday ahead of Sunday's FA Cup clash with Middlesbrough.

"At least we will not have the excuse to be surprised because they beat Manchester City in a convincing way. That is a good warning for us!"

When the draw was made it seemed a comfortable one for Arsenal. Not only had they avoided big hitters like Liverpool and Manchester United, they'd been drawn against lower-league opposition.

However, when you look at the way Arsenal struggled against Leicester City on Tuesday night, to suggest this game is a foregone conclusion is opening the door to hubris.

The Foxes sit bottom of the Premier League with just four wins all season, having conceded 40 goals in their 25 league matches. Middlesbrough, meanwhile, are top of the Championship -- ostensibly just one place lower in the league standings of the 92 professional clubs -- and they'll arrive at the Emirates on Sunday on the back of 10 unbeaten games, in which they've scored 17 goals and conceded just three.

The visitors' priority this season is clearly going to be on securing promotion to the Premier League, and even if a cup run might be a distraction, the confidence and belief gained from beating Manchester City in the previous round is immeasurable. They have nothing to lose on Sunday. Win and it's another memorable victory, lose and nobody expected anything different anyway -- plus they have the security blanket of a promotion campaign to fall back on.

It's obvious that Wenger is going to make some changes to his team, already speaking about using some players who haven't played regularly of late. We could see Kieran Gibbs, Mathieu Flamini, Danny Welbeck and even a first start in three months for Jack Wilshere.

At the back, the Brazilian Gabriel is likely to make his debut, with Wenger extolling his virtues earlier.

"He's a player who has good qualities," said the Arsenal manager. "He has good pace, he's good in the air and is good in one-against-ones, but it's better I don't talk too much. Let him play and he can show how good he is."

A typical English cup tie would certainly be an interesting introduction for the former Villarreal man, but the sooner he gets accustomed to the game in a new country the better.

The one change around which there's most debate is the goalkeeping one. Wojciech Szczesny lost his place because of behavioural, rather than performance-based, indiscretions. Had he not stupidly decided to smoke in the dressing room after the Southampton defeat on New Year's Day, then David Ospina would probably still be waiting for his chance.

The novelty factor of the Colombian has worn off slightly in recent games. He's performed well, generally speaking, but concerns about his distribution and his ability to dominate a penalty area remain. In short, he hasn't convincingly made the No.1 spot his own just yet.

Wenger referenced Szczesny's reaction to being dropped, saying the Pole was "determined and focused," so it's down to the player to perform in a way that gives his manager something to really think about. Ospina hasn't done anything to deserve being dropped, but Szczesny needs to remind Wenger of the goalkeeper who shared the Golden Glove award for most clean sheets last season with Petr Cech to keep the pressure up.

Arsenal are holders of the FA Cup, and know realistically that this competition represents the best chance of silverware for them again this season.

Taking the threat of a good 'Boro side seriously is the first step, and if they can recapture some of the January form then the visitors may have to content themselves with their chase for Championship glory.

Andrew Mangan is owner and writer of the award-winning arseblog.com. You can follow him on Twitter @arseblog.

Culled from http://www.espnfc.us