Imps draw and Gunners lose as the build up to the big match continues

Next Saturday it is the big one at The Emirates Stadium in north London. Arsenal will play Lincoln City in the quarter final of the FA Cup in match 15 on the Road to Wembley from Scotland. Yesterday the two protagonists both played important league fixtures away from home. Lincoln City eked out a valuable point in Aldershot while Arsenal lost to Liverpool on Merseyside.

Another big Vanarama League crowd gathered to watch the Lincoln Loco roll into town. Over 3500 were inside the Recreation Ground in Aldershot to see the home team take on the all conquering Imps yesterday. The match finished 0-0 and both clubs appear to be happy with a draw.

A Power struggle in Aldershot. Imps Alan Power in typical midfield action

Aldershot have extended their unbeaten run to 11 games while the Lincoln City manager Danny Cowley has described the result as a ‘good point’. On a day when Imps skipper Luke Waterfall could have won the match had he taken one of the two half decent chances that came his way Cowley concluded: “We're pleased with the way we defended and with the chances we created but a little bit critical that we didn't take one of those chances.”

Up at Anfield the Gunners were beaten 3-1 by Liverpool. Under fire Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger chose to rest his star player Alexis Sanchez for this important Premier League match.

Gunners wings clipped by Klopp: Did Wenger make an Arse of himself?

The 67 year old Wenger has been manager of Arsenal for over 20 years and under his stewardship they have built a fantastic new stadium financed by his canny transfer dealings and enjoyed great success – although not so much in recent years. He has helped the Gunners win 3 league titles and an incredible 6 FA Cups. Football supporters all over the world are fickle and have short memories. The ‘Gooners’ are frustrated with the lack of recent league success and point to the fact that the last time that Wenger led them to the Premier League title was in 2004. Yesterday his team selection was pilloried. On BT Sport during the coverage of the match Steven Gerrard described Arsenal as a squad full of very good players with one world class player – Sanchez. I can go with this synopsis. To leave Sanchez out for this game was a surprise but the astute Wenger, a devotee of Sports Science research, believes that a player can not play in every game during a hectic schedule. With crunch games coming up in the Champions League, the FA Cup and the Premier League Wenger decided to rest Sanchez yesterday. The decision clearly backfired and the Gunners found themselves 2 goals down at half time. The proud and stubborn Wenger surprisingly back-tracked on his original decision and brought on Sanchez as a half time substitute. Arsenal were more like their normal selves in the second period and competed well in an entertaining contest. On the hour mark the inspirational Sanchez provided an assist for Welbeck to halve the deficit. In the dying minutes with Arsenal committed to attack in search of an equaliser, Liverpool broke clear and scored a killer third goal.

The two protagonists both have one more game to play before they meet head on at The Emirates next Saturday. The Imps have an emotional league fixture to fulfill on Tuesday. The Cowley brothers will take their team to Cressing Road in Essex to take on Braintree Town. The Cowleys’ success as the management team at Braintree prompted an approach from Lincoln City last summer and the rest is history. On the same night The Gunners will play host to Bayern Munich in the Champions League round of the last 16. It is mission impossible for Arsenal as they are 5-1 down from the first leg. Of course if Arsenal were to beat the German champions 5-0 then Arsene Wenger would be in the good books of the Arsenal fans again. My advice to Arsene Wenger is sign a few Scots to add a bit of Caledonian flare to your squad. I think that going on for so long without any Scots in the squad maybe explains the recent lack of success at The Emirates.

Will the Arsenal regain some pride by beating Bayern? Will the Lincoln Loco breeze through Braintree on the way to the Emirates? Come back here on Wednesday to find out … and keep reading.