Arsenal's Carabao Cup Semi Final First Leg At Chelsea Previewed

Given the choice I would prioritise the FA Cup over the Carabao Cup every single season and I think Arsene Wenger would too, but it looks like it will be the other way around this week. He took a gamble in his FA Cup selection at Forest on Sunday and that was probably influenced by injuries and players needing a rest after a hectic festive schedule. That gamble backfired spectacularly in the 4-2 defeat to Forest and he now more or less has to play the strongest team he has available against Chelsea tonight in the first leg of our Carabao Cup semi final. The prize for the winner over the two legs is a trip to Wembley and a final against either Manchester City or Bristol City with the Manchester team obviously favourites to make it.

When it comes to the team selection tonight the manager has said he won't have any of the injured players back and there are doubts over Mesut Ozil, Shkodran Mustafi and Granit Xhaka with Francis Coquelin seemingly on his way to Valencia too. All of that could leave us a little threadbare against a team who found far too many holes in our defence when we met in the league last week. We managed a 2-2 draw at home in that game, but the finishing of Alvaro Morata in particular on the night was awful and we could have shipped an awful lot more goals.

We did some things right in that game too and we are a real attacking force to be reckoned with at home in particular, but we have struggled away from home this season. We did manage a 0-0 at Chelsea in the Premier League back in September and a similar result tonight would be more than acceptable. The way we have defended recently, regardless of the opposition or who we have in our team, leads me to believe our chances of a clean sheet tonight are very slim though.

I expect David Ospina will keep his place as it's a cup game, but otherwise I hope we bring back Hector Bellerin, Mustafi (if he's fit), Xhaka (if he's fit), Jack Wilshere, Ozil (if he's fit), Alexandre Lacazette and most crucially of all Alexis Sanchez. The rumours of Alexis's impending departure are rife and I wouldn't be surprised if we cashed in while we can still get some sort of fee for him, but I would prefer to see him stay as we are just so short of quality and that's something he has in abundance. He's our most likely match winner week in and week out and we would be crazy to let him go without a top class replacement coming the other way.

It's a huge task to expect this team to get anything from this game when you consider we have only won twice in our last nine games. We have drawn a lot of those games though and a draw tonight would be a more than acceptable result with the second leg at the Emirates in two weeks. I hope the manager doesn't rest any players ahead of Sunday's league game at Bournemouth as we have a week off after that game (well six days to the Palace game at least) and we need something for the fans tonight after Sunday's debacle.

If we're going to get anything from the game we have to improve at the back and it's something we just don't seem capable of at the moment. We give the ball away far too easily and players lose concentration so easily that it's hard to believe there's anyone out there telling them what to do. As well as that we struggle with the press and give up the ball far too easily under pressure in the most dangerous situations. Overall this season we have defended set pieces fairly well, but Forest's first goal on Sunday was an absolute shambles and a basic lesson in lack of concentration and no leadership.

We need the big players to lead by example tonight and for that reason I really hope Ozil plays too because we have so much more to offer in attack with him in the team. He has his detractors, but I firmly believe we are a far better attacking force with him in the team and I hope we can sort his contract situation out before he departs for free in the summer too. I'll be watching tonight's game in hope more than expectation, but sometimes this team can surprise us and that's exactly what we need tonight.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.

Arsenal's Tour Of Europe's Backwaters Confirmed

Since Arsenal finished fifth in the Premier League last season us fans having been waiting with bated breath for our Europa League fixtures to be announced. Our dreams came true on Friday when we were drawn in Group H alongside FC Cologne, Red Star Belgrade and BATE Borisov. The draw could have been kinder, but at least the distances we have to travel won't be too ridiculous.

We start the tournament as favourites to win it and the big decision for Arsene Wenger is how much importance he gives to the competition. The Premier League campaign hasn't got off to the best start and there's a tough trip to Liverpool on Sunday before the international break kicks in and the transfer window shuts. The Europa League will start just after the players return from that international break when Cologne came calling on Thursday September 14th. 

All three of our home games kick off at 8.05 on a Thursday night while all three away games will be at 6pm on Thursdays too. It's going to mean a lot of Sunday football for Arsenal and we'll be playing catch up on the other title challengers most weeks if we can get ourselves anywhere near the top of the table. There could be quite a lot of pressure on the players as a result and we have found that hard to cope with far too often in the past.

At least we haven't got away games against any of last season's top six after we have been on our European travels. There are two away league games after away games, but they are at Everton and Burnley where we can at least hope to get something from the game. Everton will have Europa League group games of their own to contend with and that might be to our advantage.

If we're going to progress from our group it won't be as easy as some might expect and our three opponents will all feel they have a chance against us. None of them have anywhere near the European experience that we have had in the last 20 seasons of continuous Champions League football, but none of them are pushovers either. If we play a weakened or reserve team we could find ourselves with an uphill fight to qualify from the group and not to make the knock out stages would be not only a disaster, but a real embarrassment too.

United won the competition last season and winning it put them through to this season's Champions League and it's a route we can't ignore. On the face of it the Europa League is there for Arsenal to win while we are by no means certain of a top four finish in the Premier League. The trick in the group stages will be for the manager to find a balance that gets us through, but doesn't take from our tough league schedule.

If he's to be believed we're finished with our transfer business for the summer and he claims to be happy with where the squad is. There may be more departures, but it seems no more players will arrive if he is to be believed. I'm not so sure he's done though and I really hope he can pull a top class rabbit out of the hat because the squad needs strengthening before the window closes.

In other news we have been drawn at home to Doncaster Rovers in the third round of the Carabao Cup with the game to be played on September 20th. That's a competition where the manager will get the chance to use reserve and fringe players and as usual it will be good to see a few of them get a chance to play in front of a big crowd at the Emirates. It's not a competition we're going to win, but it's good to blood the youngsters and see how far we can go while the star players get a bit of a rest. 

Before any of those competitions get going we face a very difficult trip to Liverpool on Sunday and it's a game I'll preview tomorrow. It's a huge game so early on for both clubs and one which neither of them can afford to lose. Team selection and tactics on the day will be crucial and I'll look long and hard at our chances in my preview.

That's it for today.

See you tomorrow.