Lincoln City defender Luke Waterfall believes the toxic atmosphere at the Emirates could see some Arsenal fans rebel against their manager and support the visitors on Saturday.
The National League leaders became the first non-league side to reach the FA Cup quarter-finals in 103 years with a win at Burnley and bid to go one step further – and earn a trip to Wembley – at the Emirates on Saturday.
They could not have picked a better time to face the Gunners, who have won only two of their last five games, one of which came against Lincoln’s fellow National League side Sutton United.
Tuesday’s 5-1 home defeat against Bayern Munich only served to heighten the pressure on Arsene Wenger, with disaffected fans marching against the manager before kick-off. The protest will be repeated on Saturday and Waterfall believes if Lincoln can frustrate their hosts they may find the whole stadium is on their side.
“He's under pressure,” said Waterfall. “Some Arsenal fans might be going there wanting us to win.
“If we start well, we might have 60,000 people behind us, not just 9,000.”
Waterfall added: “We'll go there believing in ourselves. We won't park the bus, we'll play our usual game.
“We want their big players to play. Their manager is under pressure so I would expect their big names to play.”
Lincoln have discovered they have friends in high places ahead of Saturday’s tie, with West Ham granting them the use of their Chadwell Heath training facilities on Friday as they prepare for one of the biggest games in their history.
Arsenal fans protest against Arsene Wenger | March 7, 2017
The Imps are flying high in the fifth tier – they beat Braintee 4-0 as Arsenal were being trounced bty Bayern – and are well set for a return to the Football League six years in exile.
Their table-topping form means that when they run out on to the Emirates field on Saturday they will know all the weight of expectation is on their opponents.
“I think all the pressure is on Arsenal, but we try to put energy and focus into our own team,” Lincoln manager Danny Cowley said.
“We're not going to fear it. We're going to embrace it and enjoy it, but we'll go there with a game plan.
“We want to be us. We've got here because of our method and the way we play. It would be easy to park the bus, but that's not us.”
