Arsenal fans taunt Gary Neville as hat-trick hero Martinelli answers his critics

Portsmouth vs Arsenal in the FA Cup has a nostalgic feel to it, with Thierry Henry once receiving a standing ovation from Fratton Park after his performance in a 5-1 quarter-final victory in 2004.

Mikel Arteta’s team also won 2-0 on the south coast in the fifth round in 2020 just before football was suspended before because of the Covid pandemic.

Arsenal’s manager was one of the first prominent figures in English football to test positive for the virus, and he recalled this week feeling distinctly under the weather while on the touchline at Portsmouth.

The London club went on to win the FA Cup after football’s resumption that summer, so a tie against the club placed 21st in the Championship could be a good omen.

That triumph remains Arteta’s only major trophy at Arsenal, with attention fixed on delivering the league title after three consecutive runner-up finishes.

Arsenal will also want to improve on their efforts in the FA Cup though, having been knocked out in the fourth round and the third round twice in each of the last three seasons (by Man City, Liverpool and Manchester United).

They certainly have the squad depth to manage an assault on multiple competitions, with Ben White, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Mikel Merino, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus likely to start in a strong rotated side.

The only area where Arsenal are short is in defence, where they are missing Cristhian Mosquera, Riccardo Calafiori and now Piero Hincapie with injuries. That might mean one or both of William Saliba and Gabriel being pressed into action when Arteta would have preferred to give them a rest.

Arsenal play Chelsea in the first leg of a League Cup semi-final on Wednesday before resuming Premier League duties at Nottingham Forest.

Full team news on the way shortly.