This Week's Opposition: Arsenal

Pompey Live summariser Kirsty Roxanne takes a closer look at Portsmouth's FA Cup Third Round opponents.

After a frozen pitch led to the postponement of last week’s league clash with Ipswich, our attention now turns to The FA Cup - The Blues welcome England’s current highest ranked side, Premier League leaders Arsenal to Fratton Park.

MANAGER

Mikel Arteta is in charge of The Gunners.

After an extensive playing career as a midfielder in the UK and Europe, he retired whilst at Arsenal in 2016.

Arteta was first appointed as an assistant coach to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City in 2016 and returned to Arsenal in a managerial capacity in 2019, winning the FA Cup in his debut season.

He also led the club to the Community Shield, as well as consistent top-4 finishes, culminating in a strong 2024/25 season with high win percentages and goal tallies.

Arteta has since gone on to become Arsenal’s 7th-longest serving manager, having overseen 320 matches, accumulating 196 wins, 54 draws and 70 defeats.

ONE TO WATCH

Number 11, Gabriel Martinelli is one to look out for.

The Brazilian began his senior career with Ituano (ee-two-ahh-no) in São Paulo before signing for Arsenal in July 2019 for a reported fee of £6 million.

Martinelli represented Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics, winning an Olympic Gold in Men’s Football. He made his senior debut 2 years later and played at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2024 Copa América.

Martinelli has played 23 games so far this season for The Gunners across the Premier League, Carabao Cup and UEFA Champions League, racking up 6 goals.

TOP SCORER

Across the Premier League, Carabao Cup and the Champions League, there are 3 top goalscorers all on 7 this season.

Leandro Trossard (len-droh who joined Arsenal in 2023 from fellow Premier League side Brighton & Hove Albion is one of them. The Belgium international has scored 26 goals during his Arsenal career so far. Trossard was awarded Player of the Month for December.

Victor Gyökeres also has 7 - He also played for Brighton, with loan spells to the second tier with Swansea City and Coventry City before making a permanent move to the Sky Blues. He signed for Arsenal ahead of this season from Sporting Lisbon for around £54.8 million.

Bukayo Saka is the third and he has spent the entirety of his club career so far with Arsenal, winning an FA Cup and 2 Community Shields. The 21-year-old has become one of The Gunners’ most influential players and also represents England, for whom he has scored 14 goals from 48 appearances.

CURRENT FORM

The Gunners occupy top spot in the Premier League with a 6 point gap over 2nd place Man City, while Portsmouth sit 40 places below them - 21st in the Championship.

The last time these teams met at Fratton Park was back in 2020, once again in The FA Cup with the scoreline reflecting a 2-0 win to the visitors.

Can the Blues defy the odds and get into the Fourth Round of The FA Cup?

Make sure you're tuned in to Pompey Live on Express FM from 1pm on Sunday (January 11th) afternoon to find out - Jake Smith will be accompanied by Kirsty Roxanne and James Wilson from the Fratton Park press box to provide full coverage of the match.

Kick-off: 2pm!