Arsène Wenger’s wounded Arsenal side travel to White Hart Lane to face arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur in Wednesday’s Capital One Cup third-round tie.
The Gunners have lost their last two away trips to Dinamo Zagreb and Chelsea, and were the victims of an extremely controversial London derby on Saturday, which saw the North Londoners reduced to nine men, despite the disgraceful antics of Diego Costa. Wenger’s men have now had 3 players sent off in just two matches resulting in a somewhat depleted squad for this League Cup clash.
Costa arguably committed 4 red card offences within a matter of minutes, but Gabriel Paulista perhaps naively reacted to the antagonistic forward and received a straight red-card from Mike Dean for an apparent ‘flick-out’ at the former Atletico Madrid striker just before half-time. This red-card has since been rescinded by the FA.
Santi Cazorla was later shown the first red card of his Arsenal career with ten minutes remaining, as he received a second yellow-card for an innocuous challenge on former Gunner Cesc Fabregas; whose embarrassing theatrics didn’t help his compatriot’s cause.
Kurt Zouma opened Chelsea’s account with a powerful header from a dubiously awarded free-kick after 52 minutes, before Eden Hazard ended Arsenal’s resistance in injury time; his effort deflected off Calum Chambers and completely wrong-footed a helpless Petr Cech.
Following a winless start to their season, Spurs have won their last three matches in all competitions, against Sunderland, Qarabag FK and Crystal Palace. Alan Pardew’s side visited White Hart Lane on Sunday afternoon and having won at Stamford Bridge in their previous away trip, were full of confidence.
The Eagles were unfortunate not to claim something from the game; Yohan Cabaye and Bakary Sako hit the woodwork and Mauricio Pochettino was indebted to his goalkeeper Hugo Lloris; who produced some fine saves in the second half. However, £22m summer-signing Heung-Min Son continued his flying start to life in North London, scoring the contest’s solitary goal in the 67th minute.
Spurs have now kept three consecutive Premier League clean sheets and they’ll be hoping for similar against their North London counterparts. The Gunners had been in excellent form prior to last week’s Champions League clash against Zagreb, but they suddenly find themselves under pressure and facing a Tottenham side in high spirits. Nevertheless, the Gunners’ away form in domestic competition has been tremendous over recent months; they’ll be desperate to reinvigorate their campaign with a win on Wednesday.
Team News
Mauricio Pochettino has a few injury concerns ahead of his third North London Derby as Spurs boss. The midfield trio of Moussa Dembele, Nabil Bentaleb and Ryan Mason have all failed to recover in time to face the Gunners, but Pochettino claims they are progressing well.
However, Christian Eriksen is expected to feature after he returned from injury as a second-half substitute against Crystal Palace, providing the assist for Heung-Min Son’s winner.
Danny Welbeck (knee) Jack Wilshere (ankle) and Tomas Rosicky (knee) are all long-term absentees for the Gunners.
Francis Coquelin is also unlikely to feature, as he was taken off against Chelsea with a knee problem. The Frenchman is having a scan to determine the severity of the knock, but it’s believed the knee is just swollen and Coquelin could be in line to return against Leicester this Saturday.
Santi Cazorla will be be suspended for the trip to White Hart Lane, although he will return against Leicester. However, Gabriel Paulista’s appeal against his red card has been successful and he will now be available to face Tottenham.
Per Mertesacker is expected to be named in the squad, as he returns from illness, although Calum Chambers could continue at centre-back.
Arsenal’s promising youngster Jeff-Reine Adelaide will not feature. He picked up an injury playing for Arsenal’s U21 side last weekend and is expected to be out for two months. However, Alex Iwobi may be involved.
Statistics
- - Spurs have lost just one 1 of their last 5 meetings with Arsenal at White Hart Lane.
- - Arsenal have not lost three successive games in all competitions since January 2012.
- - Arsenal beat Tottenham 4-1 AET in the 2011 Carling Cup, also at the third-round stage.
- - The League Cup was Tottenham’s last piece of major silverware. They won the competition back in 2008.
Predicted Teams
Tottenham: Vorm, Trippier, Alderweireld, Fazio, Rose, Dier, Alli, Eriksen, Heung-Min Son, Townsend, Kane.
Arsenal: Ospina, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Gabriel, Gibbs, Arteta, Ramsey, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Campbell, Giroud.
Verdict
It’s a tough one to call. The momentum is with Tottenham, although Arsenal will be boosted by the return of Gabriel Paulista, who has had his 3 match FA ban rescinded. Both managers are expected to rotate their squad, although they’ve been rather coy on just how significant the rotation will be.
Both teams have struggled with goals thus far this season; Harry Kane has struggled to replicate last season’s sensational form so far, whilst Arsenal’s need for a world-class forward has been emphasised in recent weeks. Olivier Giroud is expected to start, but with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joel Campbell set to start out wide, the Gunners may stretch Spurs’ defence.
Christian Eriksen’s return will be a massive boost for Pochettino. The Lilywhites have certainly missed the Dane’s creativity and set-piece threat and Mikel Arteta will have to perform well in Francis Coquelin’s absence if Wenger’s men are to progress. This will undoubtedly be a close encounter, but if both managers stay true to their word and rotate, Arsenal’s added depth may seem them sneak through.