I’m not sure why but after the season started and then the transfer window ended, this was always the game I looked forward to most as a young fan watching Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal in the early 21st century. I think it was because of the youth players that Wenger would give chances to. That was always something quite exciting. In the really early days, it was Jermaine Pennant, then it moved onto Fabregas/Aliadiere, then Arturo Lupoli, Nicklas Bendtner, Carlos Vela, the great Jack Wilshire, the list goes on and on. I could list about 30 academy players that I was looking forward to seeing and hoping that they would be the next ‘big thing’.
Old man side bar bit:
In those days, the coverage of youth football was nothing compared to how it is now. There is videos of former academy player Omari Hutchinson on YouTube when he was 12!!! That’s the world we live in right now. Back in the days of Aliadiere and Owusu-Abeyie, we just read match reports of reserve matches and the odd snippet of Wenger name dropping them to let you know that we might have a good one coming through.
It’s a bit different with this game, and under Arteta as a whole to be fair, as the squad is so deep, there won’t be many chances of youth player debuts or breakout moments as we have first team players in dire need of minutes. However, we do hope to see a bit more of the latest wonderkid off the line (and what a special one this one might be!!) in Max Dowman.
However, above all else, we really need to see Arsenal go through as we are in dire need of a trophy so we need to go deep in all competitions and try to have a couple on the sideboard by the time the curtain comes down in May.
Areas of encouragement
The obvious area of encouragement is the fact that we’re playing against a team that is two divisions below us. We will need to be respectful of Port Vale if we want to avoid a humiliating exit but we still should be confident going into this one that the gap in the divisions will be reflected on the pitch.
Arsenal will also have a lot of hungry players, who have been starved of minutes early in the season, who will be raring to go. Players like Christian Norgaard and even Gabriel Martinelli, will want to put their stamp on this team and come in a put in a performance that puts them in the Manager’s thoughts for the weekend. Other players like Bukayo Saka, and potentially Martin Odegaard if he’s fit, will be hungry for another reason as they’ve already missed a chunk of the early season games and will want to make up for last time.
Areas of concern
Complacency is the main issue here. It would be out of character for an Arteta team but, if Arsenal turned up thinking that they were going to stroll through this one they could get a nasty shock. The level of football in England is very high right through the four divisions of professional football to the point where upsets are always on the cards, especially away from home (just ask Manchester United!!).
The atmosphere could play a big part as well. I know most of these Arsenal players will have experienced worse in places like Bilbao last weekend and Anfield a few weeks before but if Port Vale get their tales up and really start to lift the fans, it could make things really difficult for Arsenal.
Arsenal also need to be mindful of the late goal if they are leading by just a solitary goal towards the end of the game. In years gone by, Arsenal would have extra time to put things right but, with penalties coming straight away the 90 are up, an upset seems that much more likely than it used to be.
What I’d love to see
A first goal for one of the new boys would be really exciting. Either Ebere Eze or even Christian Norgaard or Mosquera from a set piece.
Arsenal fans are all looking forward to seeing more of Max Dowman as well so an appearance of any kind would be really good but a start or even a first goal for the youngster, would be amazing.
A confidence boosting win. Arsenal haven’t been at their free flowing best so far this season so it would be really advantageous to put on a bit of a show tonight and get a decent scoreline against Port Vale, to silence a few doubters.
What I’d hate to see
Penalties. That would be mean the game had gone really badly and then with a raucous home support, we really could be in line for upset. Anything but an Arsenal win tonight would be terrible, absolutely awful.
Lineup and Team News
It’s always hard to call the lineup for the first League Cup game of the season as you’re never quite sure of how much rotation there will be, who will be risked and who is given the night off. That said, I think there are a few definites here. Kepa will surely come in for his debut for Arsenal, likewise Myles Lewis-Skelly will almost certainly get the nod at left back and Ben White returned to the bench at the weekend so should start here as well. Piero Hincapie has picked up a groin injury, otherwise he would have been in line to start here so one of the big questions will be, who will partner Cristhian Mosquera out of Saliba or Gabriel. Both could do with a rest but one will almost certainly start and I’d go for Gabriel, with Saliba only just back from injury.
Another banker has to be Norgaard to be in at the base of the midfield for his first start and Ethan Nwaneri starting in the number 10 position ahead of him. The rest is where it gets a bit difficult but you’d have to imagine that Martinelli will come into the side, after his heroics from the bench in the last two games and I also have a sneaky suspicion that Bukayo Saka will get the first hour here, as he builds up his fitness. Gyokeres will surely be rested so the striker position is open for debate but I’m going for Leandro Trossard. After not appearing for Arsenal U21s in the EFL Trophy game on Tuesday, Max Dowman will take his place among the substitutes and likely break another couple of records when he steps onto the pitch.
Predicted lineup:
Kepa
White
Mosquera
Gabriel
MLS
Norgaard
Nwaneri
Eze
Saka
Trossard
Martinelli
Substitues:
Porter
Timber
Merino
Dowman
Gyokeres
Calafiori
Rice
Odegaard
Zubimendi
PREDICTION
Arsenal should be heavy favourites to go through here and at the end of the day, that’s all that really matters in the cup. I’m going for a confidence boosting 4-0 to The Arsenal.