Good morning everyone.
Tonight is a big night, the Carabao Cup semi-final first leg against Newcastle. I know this is the lowest competition for most people in terms of priorities, but when you get to this stage with the finals right around the corner, you need to take it seriously. That’s why I think, fitness and availability permitting, Mikel Arteta could be a little stronger for this game than he was for Sunday’s FA Cup match against Manchester.
That said, I’m not sure there’s much room for rotation given the fitness issues we have. The manager confirmed Ethan Nwaneri will be out for “a few weeks” after picking up a muscle problem in Saturday’s game against Brighton, but has affected players including Kai Havertz, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli. Illness in the camps continues to be a problem.
Even if Havertz is fit enough to join the team, I don’t think it’s realistic to think he’ll be back to 100% and healthy enough to start. There are probably question marks as well for Odegaard, who looked like he should have been on the bed when he played against Brighton, but hopefully he’s fit enough to lead the team. Assuming there are no other casualties, the team could look like this: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, LB*, Partey*, Rice, Odegaard, Trossard, Jesus, Martinelli.
The reason why I put an asterisk on the left-back is because I think Arteta is wary of Riccardo Calafioli, who has just returned from injury for the second game in a row. If you feel the need for a change, you could start Miles Lewis-Skelly or Oleksandr Zinchenko (I prefer the former to the latter). There will also be questions about how much will be asked of Partey this season after playing 90 minutes at right-back on Saturday. There is room for him to rest if he needs to be careful about his physical condition.
Beyond that, there is little to work on due to the injury crisis. Arteta said he had to bring in young players to fill out the squad for training, and while he must be really disappointed in his absence in private, he put on a brave face in public. He said he was there. I can’t sit in the press conference before an important game and cry about my injury. he says:
It’s a good learning process, not only about tactics but also preparation and training with a small number of players. We had seven or eight players together today just to fill out the squad, which is not normal, but it’s a strange way to learn, but I’ll accept it. We can’t change it, so let’s make it better with what we get from it.
As for tonight’s opposition, there’s some recent history that could make this interesting. Arteta has downplayed the idea of a rivalry with Newcastle, but there is an intensity to these matches that often leads to incidents. A match at St James’s Park is often more advantageous, but having not won a trophy for 70 years, they are absolutely fired up for this game, and Arsenal, who are currently in a much weakened state, I want to give this team an advantage. In the middle of a hectic game. We also know that they have a very physical style and often avoid challenges that we would never do, so that’s something we have to keep in mind.
I hope the audience can join us tonight. Get behind the team and make it clear to the referee that when Newcastle push their limits, they almost certainly will. Arteta says:
I’m very excited to be able to compete in front of a crowd. The chance to qualify for the semi-finals and finals begins tomorrow with two legs. Obviously it’s going to be a long game with two games against a very competitive team. We know that, but we’re very excited and we need a big, big atmosphere in the stadium.
The fact that the semi-final is over two legs is ridiculous at the moment and it should only be one match, but I hope they can get a good result tonight ahead of the match at their place next month . Even if things don’t go to plan we have an opportunity to put things right, but we have two big cup games this week so it would be great to win this cup game before we think about Sunday’s FA Cup. Fingers crossed.
Well, I’ll leave it there for now. A preview podcast is currently available on Patreon. Join us later for a live blog broadcast. Plus, get match reports, goal clips, reactions, player ratings and more on Arseblog News.
Until then!
