Arteta has made nine alterations to Arsenal’s starting line-up on the back of the extra-time defeat to Olympiacos four days ago. January signing Mari is handed his debut alongside David Luiz, who is one of two players to retain his place in the side. Saka is the only other survivor from last Thursday, meaning starts for the likes of Martinez, Guendouzi and Nketiah. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is not included in the squad.
Portsmouth have made six changes to their starting line-up on the back of Friday’s 3-0 league win over Rochdale. Evans returns from injury to captain the side, while Harrison, Harness, Close, Seddon and Bolton also come in. Naylor, Marquis, Curtis, Cannon and Raggett drop to the bench as Jackett rotates his side, but Lee Brown misses out entirely.
Subs: Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Granit Xhaka, Bernd Leno, Rob Holding, Dani Ceballos, Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe.
ARSENAL XI (4-2-3-1): Emiliano Martinez; Sokratis, David Luiz (c), Pablo Mari, Bukayo Saka; Matteo Guendouzi, Lucas Torreira; Reiss Nelson, Joe Willock, Gabriel Martinelli; Eddie Nketiah.
Subs: John Marquis, Craig MacGillivray, Ronan Curtis, Tom Naylor, Sean Raggett, Andrew Cannon, Jack Whatmough.
PORTSMOUTH XI (4-2-3-1): Alex Bass; Ross McCrorie, James Bolton, Christian Burgess, Steve Seddon; Cameron McGeehan, Ben Close; Ryan Williams, Gareth Evans (c), Marcus Harness; Ellis Harrison.
PORTSMOUTH 0-2 ARSENAL | NKETIAH
51: And now It's Portsmouth's turn to test Arsenal from a corner. The Gunners haven't enjoyed defending set-pieces recently but Sokratis heads it away with a minimum of fuss. Williams embarks on a nice, jinking run from the right channel but the shot is tame and Martinez saves.
48: Arsenal come out on the front-foot with the successive corners. Reiss Nelson's deliveries weren't awful but Ellis Harrison managed to clear the second upfield.
PORTSMOUTH 0-1 ARSENAL
45: And we're back underway folks. No changes for either side.
A striker's finish!— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 2, 2020
Sokratis' crisp volley has Arsenal ahead at Fratton Park 🍌 pic.twitter.com/AjgkigRV9I
PORTSMOUTH 0-1 ARSENAL
HT: The Premier League side lead.
PORTSMOUTH 0-1 ARSENAL | SOKRATIS
48: GOAL! Now that's an emphatic finish from centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos! Any striker would have been proud of that. League One Portsmouth's resistance is broken as Reiss Nelson whips a cross from the right that Sokratis emphatically thumps home on the volley. A real sickener for Pompey.
45: Five minutes of added time after that injury to Lucas Torreira. The Gunners have themselves a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area when Ben Close hacks down Dani Ceballos. He somehow avoids the yellow card.
Anyway, David Luiz pulls rank and sets the ball down... straight into the wall. Well what else did you expect?!
42: Just the one shot on target tonight. More bark than bite I would suggest.
Eddie Nketiah collects the ball after a mazy run from David Luiz but he fires well, well, well over and into the stands.
39: Mike Dean reaches for his cards again to book Portsmouth midfielder Cameron McGeehan, who caught Joe Willock on the top of the boot. That's one each in the bookings column. Still goalless with just over five minutes until the break.
36: Mike Dean involved folks... The Dean never disappoints when there's a lull in proceedings and he's delivered yet again. Matteo Guendouzi takes a free-kick while the ball is moving, twice actually before the Frenchman sarcastically plants the ball down on the third occasion. Dean doesn't take too kindly to that and dishes out a yellow.
33: So we've ticked past the half-hour mark and this has all the ingredients for an FA Cup giant-killing. Arsenal need to wake up soon because Pompey have had more than enough chances to make the breakthrough. Reiss Nelson gets to the byline before smashing the ball across the face of goal for Gabriel Martinelli to head over the crossbar.
30: Cracking stuff from the League One side with the ball sprayed wide for the ever-willing Seddon, whose first-time delivery from the left channel is met by Evans, who has a free header. He connects well enough but guides the ball a few yards wide.
27: Portsmouth win another corner when Harness' effort takes a deflection behind. The set-piece is fizzed in but Emiliano Martinez makes a confident catch before pumping it upfield.
24: Pompey will be relatively happy so far. Their fans certainly are with the drums still banging and songs being belted out from all four corners.
21: Close! Arsenal's best chance goes begging as Gabriel Martinelli tip-toes his way along the byline before fizzing it in to Eddie Nketiah at the near post. The Gunners forward can't quite prod it towards goal as Christian Burgess makes a well-timed block.
18: Sad sight for everyone as Lucas Torreira is stretchered off the field in agony. Dani Ceballos enters the fray. Quite a far cry from Real Madrid I'd imagine...
15: Ouch! That was a rather... robust challenge from Bolton on Torreira over towards the touchline that's left the Arsenal midfielder rolling around in agony. Referee Mike Dean certainly thought it was fair having allowed play to continue.
Torreira is in real distress though. Hitting the ground in frustration as the stretchers and media staff are rushed onto the field.
12: Ellis Harrison is going to cause his fair share of problems this evening. He runs at David Luiz and beats the Brazilian before popping off a shot that Pablo Mari deflects wide. Nothing comes of it but that was far too easy for the League One side.
9: Portsmouth have lost just once in their last 26 appearances at Fratton Park and that came against fierce rivals Southampton. Not too shabby. Eddie Nketiah fizzes a low cross across the face of goal but there's no yellow shirts there to connect.
6: Chance! Steve Seddon lofts a high ball into the night sky that loops over to Harrison at the far post. He nods it back into the six-yard box where Emiliano Martinez flaps at it before David Luiz hoofs it upfield.
3: Pablo Mari takes his first touch in English football and it's a block from a Gareth Evans effort. Nothing worse than a leg-slapper on a cold night. The hosts have started brightly with a few robust challenges and aerial balls. Not intimidated in the slightest by their Premier League opponents.
PORTSMOUTH 0-0 ARSENAL
1: And we're underway at Fratton Park folks. I guess you would have thought the perfect antidote to a Europa League defeat would be to play a heavily-changed League One side, but it doesn't feel like that. The atmosphere is pumping on the south coast.
📋 Here's our @EmiratesFACup team news...— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 2, 2020
🇪🇸 @PabloMV5 makes his debut
🇧🇷 @DavidLuiz_4 partners Pablo
🏴 @EddieNketiah9 leads the attack
🏆 #EmiratesFACup
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