Arsene Wenger expects a tough game against Sunderland in the third round of the FA Cup this weekend.
The Gunners begin the defence of their title on home soil attempting to win the trophy for the third consecutive season.
Premier League opposition are in the way first up, and Wenger believes coming up against a team managed by Sam Allardyce will make it a tough encounter, no matter who he selects.
I’ve been in the job long enough to not expect any weaknesses from Sam Allardyce because I know him well enough to know that his team will be focused and motivated no matter who plays.
In the Premier League you cannot say that the managers play weaker teams because everybody has a squad of 25 players who are of Premier League level.
The FA Cup is a great competition. We take care of this competition like everybody does. Everybody dreams of winning the FA Cup. There may be some priorities at some stage of the season for some clubs who think they are in trouble and have to make these kinds of decisions, so they choose.
The Black Cats travelled to the Emirates only a month ago in the league, losing 3-1 but feeling hard done by not to get something from the game.
Whether or not the upcoming league game in midweek will affect Allardyce’s thinking will remain to be seen. There is no question, though, that the former West Ham boss has his priorities firmly fixated on retaining Sunderland’s Premier League status for next season.
Outlining his intentions to take the cup seriously, Wenger added that he will be aware of Sunderland’s threat but is confident whoever he plays can overcome that.
We are confident because when we perform we know we can beat anyone in the Premier League. We have learnt this season that the Premier League is tricky and we play at home in front of our crowd where we feel that we can qualify, but we have learnt against Sunderland that on the break they were dangerous. It was a very hard-fought win against them.
