Arsenal v Manchester United: FA Cup third round – live
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Ruben Amorim says Amad has been rested after suffering “a small issue during the week”, making this “a good opportunity to see Garnacho start”. Team news is in. United play Altay Bayindir in goal as advertised, and Alejandro Garnacho comes in for Amad Diallo. Arsenal make three changes, with Gabriel Jesus, Mikel Merino and Jorginho coming in and Leandro Trossard, Declan Rice and Thomas Partey stepping out.
![[Arsenal celebrate winning the FA Cup in 2020]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/c5f3b27a642c215c8bbf40ed1d77b8d13588e2da/312_476_4019_2411/master/4019.jpg?width=465&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
Arsenal: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Merino, Odegaard, Jesus, Martinelli, Havertz. Subs: Neto, Tierney, Partey, Kiwior, Zinchenko, Trossard, Sterling, Butler-Oyedeji, Rice. Manchester United: Bayindir, De Ligt, Maguire, Martinez, Mazroui, Mainoo, Ugarte, Dalot, Fernandes, Garnacho, Hojlund. Subs: Onana, Zirkzee, Malacia, Eriksen, Yoro, Amad, Casemiro, Antony, Collyer.
Referee: Andrew Madley. This year’s third round has been a strange one. No replays. So few big sides away at smaller ones. Just nine games to play and the greatest upset has involved Brentford losing to a team one division below them. No2 on that list is, what, Cardiff beating Sunderland in a half-empty ground? A free draw is one of the greatest features of this great competition, but sometimes it produces a right bunch of duffers.
So a game between two genuine giants, albeit giants who played each other last month and will play each other again in early March, feels like the king pole in a circus tent, holding the whole thing up. Let’s hope it’s a good one, then. Last week Manchester United, 20 times league champions, played (and, as you may remember, dramatically drew with) the team at No2 in the all-time-title list, Liverpool with 19. This week United, 13 times FA Cup champions, play the team at No1 in this all-time-title list, Arsenal with 14. They do so wanting to top up their players’ dwindling reserves of winningfeeling. "The feeling of winning, that feeling gives you so much confidence. If you win one thing you will believe you can win more,” Ruben Amorim said on Friday. “That feeling is addictive; you feel it and it’s really easy to follow that to try to win it again. I think it is important for the confidence of the players.”.
