Our FA Cup journey continued on Sunday when we host Wigan Athletic in the fourth round at 4:30pm (UK time).
A Gabriel Martinelli hat-trick helped us eliminate Portsmouth in the third round last month.
The last time we faced the Latics was in the semi-finals of the 2014 edition, where we eliminated them on penalties before defeating Hull City 3-2 in the final.
cup magic
While Wigan’s form in League One has seen the Latics fall into the relegation zone, they have found joy in a run in the FA Cup.
The 2013 winners shocked Championship play-off hopefuls Preston North End at Deepdale in the final round to set up our fourth round tie.
Wigan’s last league win came before that 1-0 win over Preston, and since then they have lost four and drawn once, taking them to 23rd place. It’s a run that saw Wigan sack boss Ryan Lowe after 11 months in charge. Glenn Whelan and Graham Barrow will take charge of the first team on an interim basis.
What managers say
Arteta: “It’s an opportunity for the team, again, with another competition, and the history we have related to that competition is amazing. We will play at home again. I’m very excited to recover and go again.” – every word of his pre-match press conference
Read more
Every word of Mikel Arteta’s pre-Wigan press conference
Graham Barrow: “Fear is a positive thing for players. It’s like nerves. You read about high-level athletes saying you need nerves, otherwise you don’t care about them. It’s always been part of it.
“You have to learn to deal with it. You can’t be so nervous that you’re afraid… you need to use that as a motivator.”
Team news
Mikel Merino is still out due to a foot injury. Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard came off the bench against Brentford after missing the match against Sunderland.
William Saliba missed the game against Brentford through illness and Kai Havertz suffered a knock in last weekend’s win over the Black Cats.
As for the visitors, they have reported no injuries after a 2-1 home loss to Reading.
conversation tactics
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official program of the day: “Former manager Ryan Lowe, who was sacked from his position a week ago, used different formations in each of his last three games in charge. After using a 3-1-4-2 for several months, he had recently experimented with 4-3-3 and 4-4-2, so it is difficult to predict what shape the visitors will adopt today.
“Wigan are happy to be a little unbalanced in the way they line up, with much of their play focused on utilizing a dynamic right side. Scottish full-back Fraser Murray is an influential figure on that flank, producing an impressive 113 crosses from open play, the second-most of any player at League 1 level this season.
“Wigan have been a low-possession team for most of this campaign, averaging just 44.6% of the ball in League 1. In a tremendous 1-0 win against Preston North End in the third round, that figure dropped dramatically to 30.5%, so we are likely to see a lot of the ball in this cup tie.
“The Latics have technical players who know how to pass very well, such as former Arsenal academy star Matt Smith, who claimed an FA Cup winners’ medal after coming on as a substitute for Mikel Arteta’s side in the 2020 final against Chelsea. However, they are generally content to sit behind the ball, before looking to catch teams on the counter-attack.”
Read more of Adrian’s analysis by purchasing a program here or outside Emirates Stadium!
Facts and statistics
This is the first meeting between Wigan and us since the 2013/14 FA Cup semi-final, which is the only previous FA Cup meeting. After a 1-1 draw, we won 4-2 on penalties and current manager Mikel Arteta scored in the shootout.
Wigan have lost 10 of their 11 away games against us in all competitions; the other was a 2-1 win in April 2012 in the Premier League under Roberto Martínez.
We are looking to reach the fifth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2019/20, when we won the competition. This is only our third tie at this point since then, losing 1-0 to Southampton in 2020/21 and 1-0 to Man City in 2022/23 previously.
Wigan have won their last six away games in the FA Cup and have only conceded one goal in this run. They have already had a run of seven away wins in the competition from January 2013 to March 2014; If they win here it would be only the fifth run of seven consecutive away wins by a team in FA Cup history (from the first round onwards) and the Latics would have made it two.
Our four goals in the 4-1 win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup third round came from set pieces (three corners, one free kick); Despite only playing this game in 2025-26, no team has more set-piece goals in the FA Cup this season than us (from the first round onwards).
match officials
Tim Robinson will take charge of this FA Cup fourth round. Robinson’s last visit to Emirates Stadium was in December 2023, refereeing our 2-0 win over Brighton and Hove Albion.
He will be joined by Ian Hussin and Marc Perry as his assistants. There will be no VAR for the N5 match. Andrew Madley is the fourth official.
Referee: Tim Robinson
Assistant referees: Ian Hussin and Marc Perry
Fourth referee: andres madley
wembley memories
It’s been 12 years since we faced Wigan and it was in the FA Cup. In 2014, defending champions Wigan surprised Manchester City in the quarter-finals and qualified us for a semi-final at Wembley.
It looked like Wigan would cause another upset when Jordi Gomez opened the scoring, but a late header from Per Mertesacker sent the game into extra time.
Penalties followed as Lukasz Fabianski saved Wigan’s first two penalty spot kicks, from Gary Caldwell and Jack Collison, to help us win 4-2 and progress to the final, where we clinched our first FA Cup title in nine years.
Read more
When Henry’s hat-trick beat Wigan in the Highbury final
Live coverage
There’s only one way to prepare for our FA Cup fourth round clash, and that’s with our pre-show, Live from N5!
Special guests, matches and in-depth analysis await you in our regular program at Emirates Stadium, before you can settle in for commentary from the match against the Latics.
Find out how you can watch the FA Cup clash on TVwherever you are in the world
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How to watch Arsenal-Wigan Athletic live on television
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