SUGGESTED STARTING XIs: Manchester United renew FA Cup rivalry with Arsenal

Manchester United travel to the Emirates this evening hoping to advance to the Last 16 of the FA Cup with a victory over their old foes, Arsenal. Alexis Sanchez could return to face his former club, but should the Chilean start? Find out what our expert writers think.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hardly put a foot wrong since arriving at Old Trafford. An eighth consecutive win tonight would further prove he’s hitting all the high notes in his big audition for the hot seat.

Will he continue to make the right choices today though as he picks his starting lineup for the match.

The Norwegian did confirm in his press conference yesterday that all three of Chris Smalling, Marouane Fellaini and Marcos Rojo will be absent again, but did mention the former has been back in training so could be in contention for the following week.

Solskjaer also pointed out that Alexis Sanchez will be involved at some point during the match against his old club, also stating, “he’ll love it if the crowd turn against him.” But do our expert writers think he makes their starting XI?

Starting with the keeper and although Sergio Romero sometimes gets a shout during cup games, this fixture is too important to not field our first-choice shot-stopper, David De Gea.

Phil Jones has been okay these past few games, but he is liable to make huge errors in big matches, so Eric Bailly should come in to sure up the defence.

Our midfield three of Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Ander Herrera has worked phenomenally well under Solskjaer, so it should remain unchanged.

And in attack, Jesse Lingard has been the weakest of our front three in recent games, so Sanchez should start against his former club on the right-hand side, providing more of a threat going forward.

David De Gea

Ashley Young, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw

Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba

Alexis Sanchez, Marcus Rashford, Antony Martial

Ollie Slack

David De Gea didn’t travel with the Manchester United squad yesterday when they took the train down to London. This doesn’t guarantee the Spaniard won’t play but with the other three goalkeepers all present it seems unlikely. Sergio Romero, therefore, should start.

I don’t really see this match being one to experiment in, despite it still only being United’s second FA Cup fixture this season. This historic competition provides Solskjaer with a perfect opportunity to win a trophy this season, with all other avenues practically shut off.

I would not risk the occasionally naive Diogo Dalot, despite his positive display versus Brighton. Ashley Young and Victor Lindelof have been stalwarts in the defence recently, Luke Shaw should also keep his place. Eric Bailly does come into my XI too, Phil Jones just missing out. The reason being, as Ali said, the Ivory Coast international is slightly more reliable.

Into midfield and I have also stuck with the formidable threesome of Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba. The Frenchman’s counter-attacking with Lingard and Martial was great to watch in last seasons league victory at the Emirates, let’s hope for more of the same tonight.

And of course the temptation is to start Alexis Sanchez against his former club, however, if the front three are creating, scoring and playing well, why change it. Lingard has done a good job since Solskjaer arrived. A lot of his work off the ball both offensively and defensively goes unnoticed, something which may become noticed if he were to be dropped.

Sanchez to come off the bench and grab a goal, fingers crossed!

Sergio Romero

Ashley Young, Eric Bailly, Victor Lindelof, Luke Shaw

Ander Herrera, Nemanja Matic, Paul Pogba

Jesse Lingard, Marcus Rashford, Antony Martial