One would expect both Arsene Wenger and Alex McLeish to field under strength line-ups in this FA Cup tie, but the latest reports suggests that both managers are set to play their strongest line-ups, which should guarantee us a great game of football at the Emirates.

Arsenal have done well to recover from the disappointing start to the season and they were even tipped to return to the title race at one point, but the three-match losing run could see even their top 4 finish hopes go up in smoke.

After losing to Fulham and Swansea on the travels, the Gunners were defeated at home by bitter rivals Manchester United, even if the hosts hadn’t played that bad after all.

Being five points adrift of the fourth-placed Chelsea, Arsenal are in desperate need of a morale-boosting win, and odds of 1.62 (8/13) offered by Ladbrokes on home win are definitely worth a shot.

Because of the aforementioned reasons, Arsene Wenger is expected to field his strongest line-up, although the Frenchman is not without selection problems.

Mikel Arteta, Thierry Henry and Bacary Sagna are all injury doubts, whereas Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho are away on Africa Cup of Nations duty.

On the other hand, Jack Wilshire, Abou Diaby, Andre Santos, Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson remain long-term worries.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Szczesny – Sagna, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Vermaelen – Song, Arteta – Walcott, Ramsey, Chamberlain – Van Persie.

Aston Villa started the season brightly, hinting that new boss Alex McLeish would do much better than his predecessors, but the Villans embarked on a poor run of results in October that lasted almost until the new year.

The goalless draw at Britannia Stadium was definitely a step in the right direction, but it was the 3:1 victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge that can be seen as a highlight of team’s campaign.

The Villans recovered well from the home defeat to Swansea to beat Bristol Rovers in the FA Cup 3rd round, before sharing spoils with Everton at Villa Park.

Aston Villa continued the impressive run on the travels by beating arch rivals Wolverhampton at Molineux, and seeing that was their third straight victory on the road, the Villans certainly have reason for optimism before the trip to the Emirates.

Alex McLeish has already revealed that he plans to field his strongest line-up, although Charles N’Zogbia and Chris Herd are unavailable through injury.

Stephen Ireland and Emile Heskey, on the other hand, have resumed full training but are expected to start on the bench.

Probable starting line-up (4-2-3-1): Given – Hutton, Dunne, Collins, Clark – Petrov, Gardner – Albrighton, Keane, Agbonlahor – Bent.