Arsenal will be determined to remain on course for their first trophy in nine years when they take on holders Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley Stadium, today.

Last weekend’s defeat to Everton in the Premier League has piled the pressure on the Gunners who are increasingly in danger of sliding out of a top-four position and a place in next season’s Champions League.

Failure to make UEFA’s most prestigious club competition will be a huge blow for Arsene Wenger who saw his team bow out from the Champions League to Bayern Munich in the first knock-out round last month besides being out of the running for this season’s Premier League title race.

Last week, Arsenal’s lack of fight and belief were very much in evidence at Goodison Park as they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat.

Arsenal are still a point ahead of Everton in the standings but the Merseysiders have a game in hand. The two sides’ remaining fixtures are:

Arsenal

FA Cup semi-final (today)

Home − West Ham (Tuesday)

Away − Hull (April 19)

Home − Newcastle (April 28)

Home − West Brom (May 3)

Away − Norwich (May 11)

Everton

Away − Sunderland (today)

Home − Crystal Palace (April 16)

Home – Man. United (April 20)

Away − Southampton (April 26)

Home – Man. City (May 3)

Away − Hull (May 11)

Uwe Rosler’s Wigan are currently fifth in the Championship with 67 points from 40 matches and are on course to reach the end-of-season promotion play-offs.

The Latics, who ousted Manchester City in the previous round in the FA Cup, are boosted by the return of Jean Beausejour after completing a two-match ban.

This will be the first clash between Arsenal and Wigan in the FA Cup. Before their demotion to the Championship last year, Wigan became the first club to win the FA Cup and get relegated in the same season.

The other FA Cup semi-final pits together Hull City and Sheffield United.

Despite coming from the League One, Sheffield United have defied the odds in this year’s cup tournament with a remarkable run which saw them eliminate Premier League side Fulham among others.

With five matches to go, Hull seem to be in a safe position in the standings as manager Steve Bruce is hopeful that tomorrow he will have midfielder Tom Huddlestone back in the fray following an injury.

Sheffield United, one of the founder members of the Premier League in 1992, are eight points adrift of the play-offs zone.

Their manager, Nigel Clough, concedes it would be a “long shot” for the Blades to make the deciders at the end of the League One season.

So, their remaining goal should be to shock Hull and earn a place in the FA Cup final. Their last presence in the ultimate showdown was in 1936.

This will be the third meeting between Hull and Sheffield United in the competition.

2009: Fifth round Sheffield United-Hull 1-1. Replay: Hull win 2-1.

1982: First round: Hull-Sheffield United 1-1. Replay: United win 2-0.

The last occasion they met in the league came in season 2010-11 in The Championship.

The Tigers prevailed 3-2 away and the Blades then emerged victorious 1-0 at Hull.

Fixtures and forecast

Fa Cup Semi-Finals

Wigan Athletic-Arsenal (18:07) 2

Tomorrow:
Hull-Sheffield United (17:07) 1

Premier League

C. Palace-Aston Villa1
Fulham-Norwich 1
Southampton-Cardiff 1
Stoke-Newcastle 1
Sunderland-Everton 2
West Brom-Tottenham 2

Tomorrow:
Liverpool-Man. City (14:37) 1
Swansea-Chelsea (17:07) 2

Standings: Liverpool 74; Chelsea 72; Man. City 70; Arsenal 64; Everton 63; Tottenham 59; Man. United 57; Southampton 48; Newcastle 46; Stoke 40; West Ham 37; Hull 36; Aston Villa, Crystal Palace 34; Swansea 33; West Brom, Norwich 32; Fulham 27; Cardiff 26; Sunderland 25.

The Championship

Bolton-Barnsley 1
Brighton-Charlton 1
Burnley-Middlesbrough 1
Derby-Huddersfield 1
Ipswich-Doncaster1
Leeds-Blackpool X
Millwall-Watford X
QPR-N. Forest (13:22) 1
Sheffield Wed.-Blackburn X
Yeovil-Bournemouth 2

Monday:
Reading-Leicester (21:07) X

League One

Crewe-Wolves 2
Leyton Orient-Gillingham 1
MK Dons-Crawley 1
Notts County-Port Vale 1
Peterborough-Coventry1
Preston-Carlisle1
Stevenage-Colchester 1
Swindon-Brentford X
Tranmere-ShrewsburyX
Walsall-Bristol City 1

League Two

Bristol Rovers-Torquay 1
Dagenham-Portsmouth 1
Exeter-Cheltenham X
Fleetwood-Morecambe 1
Hartlepool-Chesterfield X
Mansfield-Rochdale1
Newport-Wycombe 1
Northampton-Burton X
Plymouth-Oxford X
Scunthorpe-Bury 1
Southend-AFC Wimbledon 1
York-Accrington 1

Hot Four

Crystal Palace, Fulham, Southampton, Queen’s Park Rangers.

Note

All matches this weekend start seven minutes late to mark the 25th anniversary of the Hillsborough stadium disaster.