Preview: Arsenal v. Huddersfield Town, FA Cup 4th Round

On-loan Benik Afobe has extended his stay with Town for the rest of the season.
Pic via Sky Sports.

Emirates Stadium, London

Sunday, January 30

12:00 p.m. GMT, 7:00 a.m. EST

• Referee: Mark Clattenburg
• Last League Match: Arsenal 1 - 0 Huddersfield Town (January 22, 1972)
• All-Time in All Competitions: 32 Arsenal wins, 16 Huddersfield wins, 25 draws
• All-Time in FA Cup: 2 Arsenal wins, 0 Huddersfield wins, 0 draws
• Arsenal's Premier League Form: W-D-W-D-W-W
• Huddersfield's League One Form: L-D-W-W-W-D

Predicted Line-Up

almost all guesswork

Szczesny

Eboue - Squillaci - Song - Gibbs

Denilson - Diaby

Bendtner - Rosicky - Arshavin

Chamakh

I have no intention of guessing the bench for this one.
Doubts: Almunia (ankle), Rosicky (illness)

Out: Sagna (concussion), Fabianski (shoulder), Vermaelen (Achilles)

Arsenal News and Notes

• Sebastien Squillaci (hamstring) and Abou Diaby (calf) are expected to return to the side.
• Alex Song was rested during the week, meaning his ability to shift to center back in addition to Squillaci's return could finally give a rest to both Koscielny and Djourou.
• Bacary Sagna is out of the hospital and, despite his concussion, will likely start vs. Everton on Tuesday.
• There are possible returns for Tomas Rosicky (illness) and even Manuel Almunia ("ankle".)
• Wow, I included a lot of rotation in that predicted line-up... But, our B Team can surely beat a League One side at home, right? Right?!? Also, Arsenal plays a league match on Tuesday, so there'll be a lot of resting.
• Arsenal have won four straight across all competitions and have scored three goals in each of those matches.
• The Gunners are unbeaten in eight matches at the Emirates, after losing three of their first nine at home.
• Arsenal are on their fourth four match winning streak of the season. They have reached five straight wins just once.

Huddersfield Town News and Notes

• Benik Afobe, on loan from Arsenal, is not eligible to play (says Arsenal) or is eligible to play (says Huddersfield.) So, I have no idea. Sanchez Watt was given permission to play for Leeds, so I can't see why Afobe wouldn't as well.
• Top scorer Jordan Rhodes damaged knee ligaments in Town's 0-0 draw with Colchester United at the weekend, and is out for eight weeks.
• Also out are Damien Johnson (knee), Alex Smithies (knee), Liam Ridehalgh (mono), and Gary Naysmith (foot.)
• The Terriers are unbeaten in five league fixtures, but suffered a hard 4-0 loss to Carlisle in the first round of the Northern section Final of the League Trophy on January 18.

The disconcerting image of the Graf Zeppelin
above Wembley in the 1930 final.

Match Facts

• Arsenal beat Huddersfield Town 2-0 in the 1930 FA Cup Final. Arsenal also beat Huddersfield 1-0 in the FA Cup two years later. This is their first FA Cup meeting since.
• Huddersfield Town's last season in the top flight was 1971/72. Arsenal won both fixtures that season 1-0.
• The Gunners and Terriers have played three League Cup ties since their last league meeting. Arsenal won 1-0 in 1982, 3-1 on aggregate in 1986, and 6-1 on aggregate in 1993.
• Huddersfield's last win in North London was in 1954, winning 5-3 at Highbury.

The Referee

• The referee is Tyne & Wear-based Mark Clattenburg.
• Clattenburg has taken charge of three Arsenal matches this year, all big wins for the Gunners: 3-0 at Manchester City, 4-2 at Aston Villa, and 3-1 against Chelsea.
• Clattenburg's last Huddersfield Town match was on April 9, 2007 in League One. Huddersfield lost at home, 2-0 to Blackpool. Blackpool's goalkeeper in that match was on-loan Joe Hart.
• In 25 matches this year (18 Premier League, 2 League Cup, 1 FA Cup, 2 Europa League, 1 Champions League, and 1 Euro qualifier,) Clattenburg has shown 68 yellow cards and 3 red cards.

Other Fourth Round Ties

• Saturday: Everton v. Chelsea; Goodison Park, Liverpool
• Saturday: Swansea City v. Leyton Orient; Liberty Stadium, Swansea
• Saturday: Aston Villa v. Blackburn Rovers; Villa Park, Birmingham
• Saturday: Birmingham City v. Coventry City; St. Andrew's, Birmingham
• Saturday: Bolton Wanderers v. Wigan Athletic; Reebok Stadium, Bolton
• Saturday: Burnley v. Burton Albion; Turf Moor, Burnley
• Saturday: Sheffield Wednesday v. Hereford United; Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield
• Saturday: Stevenage v. Reading; Broadhall Way, Stevenage
• Saturday: Torquay United v. Crawley Town; Plainmoor, Torquay
• Saturday: Watford v. Brighton & Hove Albion; Vicarage Road, Watford
• Saturday: Southampton v. Manchester United; St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton
• Sunday: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Stoke City; Molineux, Wolverhampton
• Sunday: Notts County v. Manchester City; Meadow Lane, Nottingham
• Sunday: West Ham United v. Nottingham Forest; Boleyn Ground, London
• Sunday: Fulham v. Tottenham Hotspur; Craven Cottage, London