League form not a factor for FA Cup showdown, says Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

Posted Saturday, April 22, 2017 by PA

Arsene Wenger insists Arsenal's recent poor league form will not impact his side when they face Manchester City in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final.

The Gunners have lost five of their last nine Premier League games to slip out of the top four, with Wenger now facing an uphill challenge to secure Champions League football for next season.

The FA Cup, a competition Wenger has won a record-equalling six times, now offers the only chance of a trophy for the Frenchman as he continues to battle against a growing minority of fans who want to see him leave.

The 67-year-old's contract expires at the end of the campaign and, amid the dismal spell, supporters have protested against Wenger being offered a fresh deal.

But victory over City would help Wenger keep the majority on side and he believes that league form goes out of the window at this stage.

"It's a different competition," he said.

"Every competition brings a psychological atmosphere. We have many times seen teams not doing well in the championship and when it is a different competition suddenly they are doing very well.

"They don't carry the negative vibes of bad experiences in this competition."

Arsenal eased their league woes with a narrow win at relegation-threatened Middlesbrough on Monday night and Wenger hopes the resolve shown to secure three points on Teesside can help the positivity of his players.

"When you have negative results like we had it can divide or unite," he said.

"At some stage you have to show you can fight together. Even if people will say it's normal you win at Middlesbrough, when you go through a bad period it's difficult in your head to win everywhere.

"The best way to win is first to show that you can fight again. People questioned our fighting spirit, rightly so, when you came out of the Crystal Palace game.

"We had to show again that we can fight together. You know as well when the team fights and doesn't do it creates even more uncertainty. The fact they did fight and did win had a positive impact."

Wenger will be without David Ospina, Lucas Perez, Danny Welbeck, Shkodran Mustafi and Jeff Reine-Adelaide at Wembley with the quintet all sidelined through injury.

It remains to be seen if he sticks with the new formation trialled at Middlesbrough, where he deployed three defenders and had both Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil playing off Olivier Giroud.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola is preparing to make a special return to Wembley on Sunday.

The City boss has happy memories of the national stadium as both a player and a manager with Barcelona.

The Spaniard was a member of the Barca side which won the Champions League at the ground in 1992 and he tasted glory again when in charge of the Lionel Messi-inspired winners of 2011.

Guardiola said: "Wembley in my life has been so important in terms of football. We were able to win the first Champions League when Ronald Koeman made a fantastic goal against the Sampdoria of (Roberto) Mancini.

"The second one, we beat one of the best teams in the world in Manchester United at Wembley and, especially the way we played, always I will remember in my heart.

"We made an outstanding performance in all senses. We played 25 minutes in the second half I will never forget.

"Wembley is an important part of my life. Going back there will always be special."

The FA Cup now represents Guardiola's only hope of winning silverware in his first season at City after an underwhelming campaign on other fronts.

Guardiola believes FA Cup success could be psychologically important for his squad, although his ambitions go beyond the famous cup competition.

He said: "There are still a lot of things to fight for - to reach one final and then after to finish in the Champions League for next season.

"Winning titles (trophies) helps you to win confidence that the club is able to do great things, winning titles gives you the the self-confidence to know you are good enough.

"But what we have to do in the next years - nothing changes if we win or don't win this title."

City could be boosted by the return of striker Gabriel Jesus after two months out with a broken bone in his foot. The Brazilian, who scored three goals in five appearances after joining the club in January, returned to training earlier this month and will travel with the squad.

Defender John Stones, however, is still sidelined with the muscle injury that kept him out of last week's Premier League win at Southampton and he could also be doubtful for Thursday's derby against Manchester United.

With Claudio Bravo having played the last two games, Willy Caballero could return in goal if Guardiola sticks to his usual cup rotation policy.