Just like that, another game comes hurtling towards us!! The fixtures are coming thick and fast now and after a good win the FA Cup on Sunday, attention now turns to the League Cup, where we have reached the Semi Final stage for the second year in succession.
Arsenal were unceremoniously dumped out of the cup at this stage last season after putting in two awful performances and I certainly hope that the players use the feeling after that second defeat at St James’ Park as motivation going into this one. We can’t have a repeat of last season’s debacle. We are a little stretched in defence, but aisde from that, this squad is much better equipped to deal with this amount of games, with nearly all of the regular starting team enjoying a rest of some description at the weekend. There are no excuses, Arsenal need to really go for this trophy now.
Chelsea on the other hand are also fresh from an FA Cup win of their own and also have a new Manager in Liam Rosenior, who will be taking charge of his first home match this evening, so they will come into this one high in confidence and with fresh ideas in tow. Their form has been a bit erratic at times during this season, but what you can never doubt about Chelsea is the level of quality that they have within their squad, with several match winners within their ranks, that Arsenal will need to keen quiet in order to get a positive result tonight.
This is only round one of this tie, with the winner having to wait until early February to book their tickets for Wembley, but you feel that a strong result from an Arsenal perspective can go a long way to putting one foot into the final.
Areas of encouragement
Aside from the Liverpool match, Arsenal’s attack has looked quite good in the past month or so with key players like Martin Odegaard finding some form at just the right time, which gives me great cause of encouragement. I’m also happy, in some ways, that we are away at Chelsea, as the Liverpool midfield swamping exercise is the one thing that I’ve seen that I don’t think we have any answers for. With Chelsea being at home, I really don’t think they can afford to be so pragmatic, so that should, in theory at least, be a positive for Arsenal and make for a more open game.
With the return of Kai Havertz, our attacking depth has also never looked stronger, with the German in particular being a really exciting addition to the squad, so that’s another real plus to have that sort of talent waiting to come on and make an impact.
Areas of concern
It’s probably just my memory playing tricks on me, but we always seem to face a new Manager bounce at least three times a year and we’ll be facing another one tonight, with Liam Rosenior taking charge of just his second match in charge of Chelsea. That’s something that we will need to manage on the day and make sure that we quiet the fans down nice and early.
The injuries in defence are also a great cause of defence as we have only 1 or 2 fit rotation options for the whole back 4 at the moment, so I do worry that this will leave us exposed, especially at left back. That said, Myles Lewis-Skelly has shown he has big performances in his locker so I wouldn’t put it past the youngest putting in an 8 or 9 performance tonight, if selected at left back.
What I’d love to see
With it being a cup tie and the prospect of taking Chelsea back to The Emirates for the second leg, I’d just really love a clean sheet in this one. I think that would give us a massive foundation to go on and win the tie and tip the balance in our favour ahead of the second leg.
The last time we made wholesale changes (I think it must have been the quarter final of the League Cup against Palace) I was expecting the Arsenal players to come out flying and fresh in the next match and it never really happened. I’d really like to see a fully rested Arsenal team raring to go from the first minute in this one, as we’ll need to match Chelsea’s legs in midfield if we want to dominate.
What I’d hate to see
An early goal to Chelsea, as we did against Portsmouth last time out, would be an absolutely killer. We must avoid that at all costs. That would get the fans up and give everyone in blue a massive lift so early in the game and just can’t happen. I’d also hate to see their midfield run all over us, as Liverpool did so recently. With a fully rested Declan Rice and Moises Caceido missing for Chelsea, we should be winning that battle in the middle of the pitch.
Key battle
Take your pick! Massive battles all over the pitch in this one. Chelsea are strong down the wings so I think how our fullbacks cope with their wingers is going to be really key, especially down our left. That said, I think the midfield is where the real key battle is so I’m going for Declan Rice and Enzo Fernandez as the key battle. They don’t necessarily occupy the same spaces, at least not all of the time, but they are both cover a lot of ground and are key in their respective clubs ability to be able to dominate a football match. Let’s hope Declan Rice is fresh from his rest at the weekend and raring to go for this one!
Lineup and Team News
The injury news from Mikel Arteta’s press conference was less than ideal, with none of the stricken defenders returning and William Saliba now also considered doubtful, along with Leandro Trossard. I have a sneaky suspicion that both will be fine, although there’s definitely a chance they could miss out entirely.
If Saliba is fit, I think he starts this one, as Arteta will go as strong as possible in the first leg, to avoid creating an uphill battle that we’ll have to try and scale back at The Emirates in a few weeks’ time. David Raya and Jurrien Timber will both come back in and Gabriel will have to retain his place as we just don’t have the options to rotate right now. That just leaves the left back place to be filled. Arteta hasn’t done this for a while, but I think he’ll keep Ben White at right back and move Jurrien Timber over to the left hand side, especially given Myles Lewis-Skelly’s troubles this season. The midfield trio of Declan Rice, Martin Zubimendi and Captain Martin Odegaard should all come straight back into the starting lineup, despite some strong performances from the midfielders on show at Portsmouth. Those three are key to pretty much everything we do, so I can’t see past them for a game of this size.
Likewise Bukayo Saka will take up his place on the right-hand side, after Noni Madueke’s ‘eventful’ game at the weekend and I actually think Viktor Gyokeres will again lead the line, with Kai Havertz not yet fit enough to start and Gabriel Jesus not really pulling up any trees right now. On the left hand side, I think even if Trossard is passed fit, he won’t start this one. After scoring his first career hattrick in the FA Cup on Sunday, I think Gabriel Martinelli deserves to play this one and his pace will also be a key out ball for us on the transition, so the Brazilian should keep the shirt on the left wing.
That leaves a very strong looking bench, at least from an attacking point of view, which again I think Ethan Nwaneri will probably miss out on altogether, which seems particularly unfair, given his performance at Portsmouth.
Predicted lineup:
Raya
White
Saliba
Gabriel
Timber
Zubimendi
Rice
Odegaard
Saka
Gyokeres
Martinelli
Substitutes:
Arrizabalaga
Lewis-Skelly
Norgaard
Merino
Eze
Havertz
Trossard
Madueke
Jesus
PREDICTION
As much as I would love Arsenal to blow Chelsea away at the Bridge and get this wrapped up in the first leg, I really can’t see that happening, as this one is probably going to go right down to the wire in the second leg, never mind the first time out. I do think we can nick it though, if our defence do the business and we take our chances, so I’ll go 1-0 to The Arsenal.