It's good news for Arsenal, but given Stuart Taylor's extremely promising form it's not as good news as what's in front of him. The back 4 is back at last.

As expected, the FA Cup strike pairing of Jeffers and Wiltord is preferred again, giving Bergkamp and Henry a rest before Wednesday's crunch tie against title rivals Man Utd (our only rivals, following their 6-2 demolition of Newcastle yesterday). Wenger of course refutes this, saying he's "picked a team to win a semi-final". Fair enough, we're not saying Jeffers and Wiltord aren't more than capable. Arsenal's squad is strong enough these days that one can reasonably look the tactic as being one of having an FA Cup side and a League side, rather than first-choice and reserves. But the effect is the same, and there's no getting away from the fact that when the chips are down, Thierry Henry is first-choice.

In midfield Wiltord's use up front and Pires's injury means the wingers virtually pick themselves: Parlour on the right and Ljungberg on the left. Edu is alongside Vieira in the middle.

Semi-final starting line-up:

        Seaman
 Lauren  Keown  Campbell  Cole
Parlour  Vieira  Edu  Ljungberg
        Wiltord Jeffers