Oxford City v Arsenal LIVE - Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli start as the Gunners look to book spot in FA Cup fourth round

Arteta himself was on the City bench as Pep Guardiola's assistant when they played Oxford in the EFL Cup in 2019, which turned out to be Arteta's last game at City before joining the Gunners.

Joao Cancelo and a Raheem Sterling double gave the Cityzens the win en route to their League Cup triumph.

Arteta, who became the first person to win the FA Cup as a player and a manager, spoke to Arsenal club legend and ITV's Ian Wright before the game.

"You have to be [mentality prepared], we have tried to explain how important this competition for this club, the history that is attached to it, really big.

"We need to show that on the pitch today."

It was a nightmare outing for the Gunners against then-Championship outfit Nottingham Forest, who left it late to serve Arsenal a sucker-punch goal courtesy of Lewis Grabban seven minutes from time to win 1-0 one year ago today.

The record 14-time FA Cup winners are already out of the League Cup and have gone strong for tonight's clash, so expect a strong performance as they seek the trophy they last won in 2020.

The club are 15th in League one, 57 positions below Arsenal in the football league.

They've won one of their last five games, losing their most recent outing 1-0 at home to Exeter City.

Arsenal and adidas’ ‘No More Red’ initiative, which gives young people more opportunities and tackles the root causes of violent youth crime, continues tonight.

Mikel Arteta’s side will once again step out in all white as they did in their third round tie against Nottingham Forest last season.

"After careful and thoughtful consideration, I announce my immediate retirement from club and international football," Gareth Bale wrote on social media.

'WE'RE EXCITED ABOUT THE CHALLENGE'

Oxford boss Karl Robinson is looking forward to hosting the "best team in the country", and has picked an "aggressive" line up for the occasion.

"When you've got the best team in the country right now coming to your home stadium, we're very, very lucky, we've had that three times now.

"We're excited about the team, it's relatively aggressive and we're looking forward to it."

The winner of tonight's tie will travel to Manchester City at the end of January after the Cityzens beat Chelsea 4-0 at Etihad Stadium on Sunday.

Find out who else plays each other in the next round.

Despite making seven changes from their 0-0 draw against Newcastle on Tuesday, Arteta has gone stronger than most would have anticipated.

Matt Turner, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney, Fabio Vieira, Mohamed Elneny, and Sambi Lokonga all come in.

Gabriel Magalhaes, Bukayo Saka, Eddie Nketiah, and Gabriel Martinelli all keep their place.

ARSENAL: Turner, Tomiyasu, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney, Elneny, Lokonga, Vieira, Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah

Subs: Hein, White, Smith Rowe, Xhaka, Zinchenko, Partey, Odegaard, Bulter-Oyedeji, Marquinhos

OXFORD UTD: McGinty, Anderson, Moore, Long, Brown, Bate, McGuane, Brannagan, Bodin, Taylor, Murphy

Subs: Eastwood, Fleming, Findlay, Johnson, Goodrham, Negru, Wildschut, Sade, O'Donkor

Welcome to Eurosport’s LIVE digital coverage of the final FA Cup third round tie between Arsenal and League One Oxford United at the Kassam Stadium.

57 places separate the Gunners and the U’s, with a trip to Manchester City in the fourth round awaiting the winner.

Kick-off is at 20:00 GMT and team news is up next.