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31-year-old Arsenal outcast to be handed surprise start v Sutton

By on February 18, 2017

Mathieu Debuchy

According to the Mirror, Arsene Wenger is ready to hand Mathieu Debuchy a shock start during Arsenal’s FA Cup clash with Sutton on Monday night.

Debuchy’s Arsenal career has been nothing but a nightmare ever since he arrived from Newcastle in 2014 as his time here has been ruined by a number of serious injuries.

A knee ligament problem suffered shortly after his arrival saw Debuchy lose his first team place to Hector Bellerin and he’s struggled to get back to his best ever since.

The 31-year-old failed to secure a loan move in January and has managed just 16 minutes for the first team this season having picked up a hamstring injury on his only start against Bournemouth back in November.

However, Debuchy has been training well with the first team lately and it looks as though the boss is set to hand him a rare opportunity against Sutton on Monday night.

Obviously Wenger is going to take the opportunity to rest his key men and with Bellerin carrying a niggling ankle problem in recent months, he’s among those set for a breather.

A void needs to be filled at right-back and with Gabriel expected to start in the middle of defence, the Mirror claim that Wenger is set to turn to Debuchy for our FA Cup fifth round clash.

Personally, I’d rather see Carl Jenkinson given a chance against Sutton because Debuchy made it clear he wanted out of the club in January. At 31, his career is coming to an end and he’s certain to go in the summer.

Jenkinson on the other hand loves Arsenal and still has his best years ahead of him. His confidence is low so a good performance against Sutton would do him the world of good.

Obviously it’s down to Wenger though and I expect we’ll see a number of changes made on Monday with the likes of Nacho Monreal, Rob Holding, Mo Elneny, Theo Walcott, Jeff Reine-Adelaide, Danny Welbeck and Olivier Giroud set for recalls.

Check out my preferred starting eleven for the game here.