- Arsenal need to respect us, says Boro's Dean Whitehead
- How Arsene Wenger came to dominate the FA Cup
- Arsenal back Gabriel Paulista to learn fast in FA Cup tie
- Karanka proves to be ‘Special One’ in Middlesbrough revival
- Arsenal's quest to retain Cup – which of today's stars would get in 2003 team?
Who is going to win the FA Cup? Would you rather your team finished fourth in the Premier League or won the FA Cup? Who was your favourite Middlesbrough player from the 1996/1997 season? Email alan.tyers@telegraph.co.uk with your views
HALF TIME: ARSENAL 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 0
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51 mins: Boro lose it cheaply, Chambers threads the ball trhough to Welbz, who skips clear, dinks it round the keeper and tries to finish, but the angle is impossible and the ball flies past the goal, no Arsenal player following in.
49 mins: Flamini has an effort wide, from distance.
48 mins: Sure enough, they lose it, and before you know it, Arsenal are on the rampage once again, Ozil et al with clever touches.Welbeck has it in the box, they can't get it off him, but he can't get a shot away. Eventually scrambled to safety.
47 mins: It's played short, and then all the way back to the defence. That seems a terrible choice, surely better to stick it into the box, a great leveller and never Arsenal's strongest suit.
46 mins: Can Boro get into this? They begin well down the left here, and they have won a corner.
16.58 A few emails. Fran Darby will kick us off:
PLEASE LEAVE POOR SZCZESNY ALONE….he only smokes to keep Wilshire company!
On the other hand, here is William Hargreaves:
Maybe Szczesny should go back to wearing pre-war kit and boots. The goalies shorts had pockets for the old Craven 'A's and a box of Swan Vestas.
HALF TIME: ARSENAL 2 MIDDLESBROUGH 0 Oof. Well, I don't think we will be seeing a Cupset here. Arsenal absolutely all over poor Boro here, a gulf in class, and two excellent goals between the teams. It would take some comeback from here.
44 mins: Welbeck brings the ball down in the Boro area with a delicious touch, but is closed out by a brace of Boro backs before he can get a shot in.
42 mins: A few Online Mister Angries have been complaining that the Bradford game was not on TV. Here's the Queen Mum
41 mins: A quiet period, Arsenal not exerting themselves overmuch, Boro too outclassed to make much headway.
38 mins: Adomah with a run and a hard low shot from distance. Szczesny has time to carefully put down his Capstan Full Strength and save in some comfort, his first real action of the match.
37 mins: Omeruo gives away a freekick on Welbeck, you could argue (as Michael Owen does), that it was a silly one to give away, but I suppose that's what pressure does. Good hands from the Boro keeper as he gathers Santi's free.
34 mins: Arsenal break again though, Sanchez with ridiculous pace to get away, keeper rushes out, Sanchez dinks it past but the Boro player has got just enough on it... Boro defender hacks clear..
32 mins: Still, Boro having a go, Kike making a nuisance of himself in the area,
GOAL! Arsenal get a corner, possibly slightly fortuituously. Boro seem distracted by that, and have committed one of the cardinal sins: switching off at a corner. Ball drilled in, Giroud makes the run across the near post and hooks it home with a simply brilliant finish. Highest quality gear from the Arsenal in the last couple of minutes, and it's now just a question of how many. (Giroud 29)
28 mins: Boro kick off but...
GOAL! Brilliant goal. Sanchez starts it with a pacy run, holds onto it well, nice little ball into Welbeck. With his back to goal, he plays it to Santi. Santi shapes to shoot, but this is lovely, he instead slips it out to Gibbs who, as I mentioned before, is playing in a very advanced position down the left. He crosses, Giroud applies the finish and that really was a touch of class from the Arsenal. (Giroud 27)
25 mins: Here's a move from Boro though, Friend getting forward, Adomah has a chance to cross but overhits it.
24 mins: Bradford have beaten Sunderland! Just fantastic, well done to them. Drew writes:
Makes a change to see us start so brightly after the shambolic performance against Spurs! We just have to keep concentrating and guard against any sort of complacency. Big game for Ozil too......set-up for him to ‘show some stones’ and get stuck in.
22 mins: Gibson of Boro, playing centre half, is the nephew of Boro chairman Steve. But he's in the team on merit! He's a composed centre half, he's talking well to his fellows, and he looks a promising player. He's a regular for the England Under-21's and is going places. Ah, Giroud has had a dibble from distance, but it's easy for Mejia, who came from Real Madrid to Boro. That well worn path...
20 mins: Arsenal are obviously an excellent side and they are playing well, but Boro are not really helping themselves on the (rare) occasions they do get a go on the ball. Giving it away, cheaply, too often.
17 mins: Classic little Arsenal triangle of passing outside the area, the irrepressible Santo to the fore. Giroud has a chance to slip Welbeck in, but he badly overhits a pretty simple pass. Dat Guy Welbz is annoyed.
14 mins: Giroud has a shot! Mejias leaps, probably should have caught it, but palms it into the path of Sanchez. He shoots into the sidenetting from a narrow angle.
12 mins: Welbeck has it in the box, backheels it, Alexis about to shoot! Excellent tackle from Chelsea loanee Omeruo. Arsenal want a penalty. No. Fair tackle, excellent one in fact.
10 mins: Can't remember Boro having a kick so far. Cazorla opens them up and Gibbs, would you believe it, makes an incisive run from the number ten area into the area! Keeper rushes out, just in time. Boro offering so little offensively that Gibbs can play like a left winger.
8 mins: Cazorla with a darting run, out to Gibbs, excellent low cross but JUST scrambled clear.
6 mins: Hmm, writing on the wall for Boro I fear. They're under the pump, Arsenal have worked another good position, and only a miskick by Chambers stops a dangerous move. Leadbitter with a vital challenge on Sanchez.
4 mins: Cazorla whips it left foot, wall has not done its job, and Mejias has to dive down and save. Pushes it behind for a corner that is cleared.
3 mins: Ah but now Giroud has got the ball just outside the area, he's spun away from Clayton, who has tugged him back and then tripped him. The freekick central, perhaps 28 yards out.
2 mins: All played in Boro's half so far, Clayton busy as he screens his defence, tidying up busily.
1 mins: Bright start Arsenal, Ozil down the left, the ball into the area headed clear.
16.00 But that's not important right now. Arsenal kick off!
15.59 They definitely give co-comm Michael Owen a thing to read out before the game, I am convinced.
15.58 Boro not lost in ten. Arsenal have made seven changes. Smoking Szczesny in nets. Here's how they're lining up.
15.52 Email from Fran Darby
Who is going to win the FA Cup? Would you rather your team finished fourth in the Premier League or won the FA Cup? Arsenal to do both.
15.50 "I will be very disappointed if they don't give it their best shot."
"If they score Arsenal will have to score twice."
"Arsenal will have to beat this Boro side."
Well, you cannot argue with the level of insight on offer from the three wise men of Andy, Wrighty and (less culpable) Macca
15.47 Gabriel makes his Arsenal debut. He don't speak the lingo. Some amusing speculation as to how that is going to pan out. "He will communicate with his eyes," says Wenger. Andy T reckons that if you're a good player, you don't really need to speak English. And as a commentator?
15.46 Here's Wenger:
They are top of the Championship, it's harder to play a team from a lower league who is on fire than a Premier League team who is depressed.
15.45 And Bill Hargreaves touches on one of the great delights of the foreign influx into the game.
With what accent will Gabriel Paulista learn to speak defender's English?
15.40 An email arrvies from Dench. All yours, Denc:
Unreal that Wenger plays Welbeck ahead of Walcott. They lost at Spurs with Welbeck and I suspect they are going to lose again today. Wenger trying to justify a bad buy.
15.30 The players are out on the pitch and, much more importantly, Andy Townsend is back in harness! There he is on the side of the pitch, chatting with Wrighty, McMan, and That Nice Jake Humphrey. Andy of course, a solid performer for Boro back in the day.
15.20 And just to further dent Boro's spirits ahead of the fifth round tie at the Emirates Stadium, Wenger's Arsenal appear almost completely immune to shocks. This table shows the number of times that same group of Premier League managers have been knocked out of the FA Cup by a lower-league side.
15.15 If Boro were hoping to catch Arsenal on an off-day, they would be wise to bear in mind Wenger's superb record in this competition.
15.10 Well, you cannot accuse Arsene of not putting his best foot forward in the FA CUp. That looks a formidable line-up. Boro's Dean Whitehead had called for Arsenal to 'respect' them
Be careful what you wish for, I guess...
15.09 I hate it when managers change the team! Sorry there is a picture of Theo W at the top of the blog, that'll change v shortly. Selfish, selfish Wenger.
15.06 Ah-ha!
Arsenal: Szczesny, Chambers, Gabriel, Koscielny, Gibbs, Flamini, Cazorla, Welbeck, Ozil, Alexis, Giroud. Subs: Martinez, Mertesacker, Monreal, Rosicky, Walcott, Coquelin, Akpom.
Boro: Mejias, Fredericks, Omeruo, Gibson, Friend, Leadbitter, Clayton, Adomah, Tomlin, Kike, Bamford. Subs: Ripley, Nsue, Husband, Vossen, Reach, Whitehead, Woodgate.
15.05 I don't spy those teams as yet.
15.00 Afternoon all, welcome to our live blog of Arsenal v Boro. Teams ASAP. Anyone fancy the Boro? Be a great story.
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New signing Gabriel Paulista's English is still "a problem" according to manager Arsene Wenger but the Brazilian defender could make his Arsenal debut in today's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Middlesbrough.
The 24-year-old who joined Arsenal from Spanish side Villarreal last month is yet to make his debut.
After his arrival Wenger said the language barrier could cost his side goals and is yet to be convinced that the problem has been alleviated.
"Look, it is a problem," Wenger said. "When you don't speak English and you don't understand, 'Come out, come back, right, left'.
"It is a problem for a defender. You need to know the key words. 'Referee! Offside! Foul!
"But he has the physicality and motivation. He has an opportunity to show that now."
German World Cup-winning defender Per Mertesacker is expected to be rested when holders Arsenal host the Championship leaders at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, opening up a gap for Gabriel.
He was an unused substitute in Arsenal's last three matches and has struggled to break the settled partnership of Mertesacker and France international Laurent Koscielny.
Wenger cited the pressure on modern day players as his reluctance to play Gabriel but said his lack of English could be advantageous in terms of not reading press criticism.
"The players are always under tremendous pressure because everything they do is analysed by the pundits and the press," Wenger added.
"The modern player has to live with that - resistance to stress has to be stronger than it was 10 years ago.
"He will not read the press. He will just focus on his game - that is one of the advantages."
Alan Tyers will be here from 3pm to bring you team news, build up and live coverage
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