Arsenal dodge a bullet to complete the FA Cup quarter-final line-up and confirm a Gameweek 28 blank for themselves and Leicester City.
Sutton United 0 Arsenal 2
Goals from Lucas Perez and Theo Walcott (courtesy of assists from Granit Xhaka and Alex Iwobi) ended both Sutton’s FA Cup dream and perhaps sealed the fate of Alexis Sanchez as a short-term Fantasy asset.
Arsene Wenger made seven changes from the side humbled in Munich, with Walcott up front, Rob Holding in for the injured Laurent Koscielny and Sanchez on the bench. Hector Bellerin and the much-maligned Mesut Ozil were not involved.
The only sour note on the night was a possible injury to midfielder Mohamed Elneny, who received treatment on the pitch in the first half and was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at half-time.
Whatever the ins and outs of the team, the bottom line is that the Gunners will now miss both Gameweek 26 – due to Southampton’s involvement in the EFL Cup final – and the Gameweek 28 visit of Leicester.
That is highly likely to prompt continued sales in key Arsenal assets, with Sanchez the major casualty.
Fantasy Premier League’s leading points scorer, the Chilean is already the third most transferred-out player with over 76,000 sales – with 6000 of those arriving in the last 24 hours. Olivier Giroud is also placed in the top ten, with Koscielny just outside it.
The Gunners’ immediate schedule doesn’t help their cause either, with Liverpool away and a home clash against Manchester City to come over their next three matches.
Double Gameweeks will boost their stock again further down the line, with a strong run of four fixtures following the Gameweek 30 visit of Pep Guardiola’s side but, for now, many will now be implementing exit plans.
Arsenal XI: Ospina, Gabriel, Mstafi, Holding, Monreal, Elneny (Oxlade-Chamberlain 45), Xhaka, Lucas, Reine-Adelaide (Maitland-Niles 74), Iwobi (Sanchez 74), Walcott.
Subs not used: Martinez, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Gibbs.
