Mikel Arteta delivers this verdict on Lee Johnson's Sunderland - and hints at Arsenal rotation for quarter final

Johnson led Bristol City to the semi finals of the same competition in the 2017/18 campaign, knocking out Manchester United in the quarter final stage.

Arsenal are in good form coming into the game but Arteta has watched three Sunderland games as part of his analysis and says the Black Cats squad has the resources 'to create problems' for his side.

"They’re a huge club with a big, big history, it’s a Premier League club, you see the fanbase, the structure that they have around it and the history of the club," Arteta said.

"It will be a difficult night and their manager has a history of making life very difficult for Premier League clubs in this competition and we have to be ready.

"I already watched three of their games and they’re the highest possession team in the league, it’s the team that has a lot of resources with the ball to generate attacking situations and if you give them the right time to do so, they will create problems because they have good players to do so.

"They are consistently winning in the league, so they have the habit of winning and competing to win, so I am expecting them to come here with no fear and try to have a good go at us."

Arteta has hinted that he will rotate his side for the game.

Both squads will undergo a final round of COVID-19 testing on Tuesday morning, with Pablo Mari and Albert Sambi Lokonga currently in isolation following positive results.

A number of academy players have trained with Arteta's senior group ahead of the game, and so changes seem inevitable.

Arteta said: "There is another step before that [reaching Wembley] and we have to be prepared for that, obviously, there are players that might play who haven’t been involved as much in terms of minutes, but they’re going to be crucially important in this part of the season."

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