Arsenal v Spurs: Carabao Cup Preview

Arsenal’s run of 22 games unbeaten came to an end away to struggling Southampton on Sunday with their hosts winning at home for the first time in the league this season. It wasn’t exactly the greatest way to end the run, but no defeat is ever welcome. There were of course the excuses of an injury crisis in our defence and some poor refereeing, but the performance on the day wasn’t good enough and that was the main reason for the defeat for me.

With a hectic Christmas programme of Premier League games almost upon us we have the inconvenience of a Carabao Cup quarter final at home to arch rivals Spurs tonight. So far Unai Emery has played youngsters and fringe players with a scattering of his first choice players to reach the last eight of the competition, but he has a big decision to make for tonight’s game. If he goes with a strong team it could have consequences for the festive games, but nobody ever wants to lose to that lot.

We don’t know how Spurs will approach the game either, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they went with a fairly strong team for a few reasons. Firstly they will want revenge for the 4-2 defeat to us a couple of weeks ago and they also don’t play until Sunday while we play against Burnley on Saturday. The biggest reason for them could be the prospect of a trip to a cup final and the chance to actually win some silverware which is something quite alien to them.

I expect the manager to rest Laurent Koscielny and possibly Nacho Monreal too as they have only just returned from injury while he might be tempted to leave Stephan Lichsteiner on the bench even though he has recovered from the knock that forced him off on Sunday. Carl Jenkinson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles are likely to play while Sokratis Papastathopoulos is available to play too after missing Sundays game through suspension. Both Shkodran Mustafi and Sead Kolasinac are doubtful with knocks and I would be very surprised if he risked either of them even if they do recover in time to play. It leaves our defence threadbare at best and it will be hard to play three central defenders with the options available despite it being the preferred formation at the moment and the winning one against Spurs a few weeks ago.

With defensive options so limited we can probably expect to see a strongish team in midfield and attack with both Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey likely to play in my opinion. There are issues with both of them at the moment and their chances have been limited, but there is no denying their class and potential to turn the game in our favour. 

I expect to see both Matteo Guendouzi and Mohamed Elneny in the team too with Alexandre Lacazette more than likely leading the line. While Guendouzi and Elneny might not offer us the strength of Lucas Torreira and Granit Xhaka in midfield they are more than capable of giving us the foothold we need in midfield. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both Torreira and Xhaka on the bench though just in case we need them.

As for Lacazette he has been on the bench for the last few league games with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leading the line, but he has done well when he has come on. Aubameyang has missed his fair share of chances recently, but he is still the joint leading scorer in the league and I think we will continue to deploy him as our main striker. I would be very surprised if he was in the squad tonight and a few days rest before the hectic festive schedule might do him some good.

There are a few options for the last place in the team which would probably have gone to Emile Smith Rowe if he wasn’t injured. If we opt for three central defenders then Zach Medley might come into the equation while Joe Willock could play in midfield or Eddie Nketiah could play up front with or without Lacazette. I wouldn’t be surprised again if it was Willock who got the nod, but it really depends on how strong the manager decides to make the team. There is always the chance he will opt for Bukayo Saka after he impressed in the Europa League last week, but I would be surprised if we saw him from the start tonight.

It’s a hard game to preview with so many options for both managers and all I can really say is I hope those that do play tonight give it their all. Going out at this stage wouldn’t be a real blow, but it’s never nice to lose to Spurs and that could be the deciding factor in how both managers approach the game. We have bigger fish to fry in terms of the other three competitions we are in and finishing in the top four or winning the Europa League are the only ways back into the Champions League for next season so they have to take priority for me.

That’s it for today.

See you tomorrow.