Coming off a frustrating defeat to Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal will have to rally the troops with Swansea City coming to town.
It was not to long ago that Swansea left London with a 0-2 victory with Michu lifting the Welsh side to glory. If Arsenal wants to avoid running into that same problem, they will need to make sure they are fully focused on Wednesday.
Taking a look at how Arsenal's season has gone thus far, the FA Cup could really be the Gunners only realistic shot at a piece of silverware this season. Had they not crashed out of the League Cup against Bradford City, they could well have had a chance to win that cup as well.
They still remain in the Champions League, but taking on Bayern Munich will not be an easy task when you consider the fact that the only thing seperating them from the title last season was a penalty shoot-out.
In the first match between these two for the FA Cup tie, Swansea looked destined to once again defeat Arsenal, but late heroics from Lukas Podolski and a stunning strike from Kieran Gibbs turned the match around in favor of the Gunners.
On a high and with very little time remaining, it appeared as if Arsenal was going to progress through to the next round. Not so fast.
A late strike from Danny Graham left Arsene Wenger furious and sent the Liberty Stadium into a frenzy. Once again, Arsenal's lackluster defending and lack of concentration came back to hurt them.
The Swans have yet to lose a match in their previous seven in all competitons which will give their side a boost of confidence.
Arsenal, winless in 2013, will want to keep their chances alive in the FA Cup. Playing at home in front of their own fans should give them that extra bit of confidence, but as we saw the last time Swansea travelled to the Emirates, the venue did not matter.
Previous Matches
01-06-13 Swansea 2-2 Arsenal (FA Cup)
12-01-12 Arsenal 0-2 Swansea
01-15-12 Swansea 3-2 Arsenal
09-10-11 Arsenal 1-0 Swansea
Prediction
Arsenal is in desperate need of a win, so crashing out of their only remaining realistic shot of silverware would be a devastating blow to the team. Not only would it hurt the teams confidence, but they would have nothing to really play for except a fourth place finish and a glimmer of hope in the Champions League.
While the Champions League is a possibility, the odds are stacked against the Gunners.
With 10 FA Cup titles already under their belt, Arsenal will want to not only claim their 11th, but they will also want to end that seven year trophy drought that everyone speaks about.
The best finish Swansea has had in this cup was the semi-finals back in 1926 and 1964. That was a long time ago, but the way Michael Laudrup has his players believing, anything is possible.
Laudrups side has a realistic shot at eliminating the Gunners and they have a 0-2 lead in their League Cup tie against Chelsea with the second leg being played at the Liberty Stadium. It is safe to say that things are looking good for the Swans.
Wednesdays match will provide us with yet another nail-biter at the Emirates.
Both sides may opt to rotate their squads, but neither manager will want to make to many devastating changes.
Laudrup's only injury concern is Neil Taylor who has a fractured ankle, but the Swansea manager may also choose to give Leon Britton a break as he has been fatigued.
Arsene Wenger will have to decide if he wants to give Abou Diaby another run in or if he wants to rest him considering he played significant minutes in his first game back against Manchester City.
Arsenal will have to come out hungry if they are going to defeat this very confident Swansea side. The visitors know what it will take to defeat the Gunners in their own stadium as they did it just over a month ago.
Another poor offensive showing matched with a suspect defensive effort will surely see Arsenal eliminated on Wednesday.
Arsenal 2-1 Swansea City
Will Arsenal finally get their first victory of 2013 on Wednesday against Swansea, keeping their FA Cup hopes alive?
