Carabao Cup semi-final against Chelsea is serious business

Morning all.

It’s a Carabao Cup semi-final first leg at Stamford Bridge this evening, and while Mikel Arteta has plenty of options in midfield and up front, at the back we’re more or less down to bare bones. William Saliba is a doubt, according to the manager, having missed out on the FA Cup win over Portsmouth due to a small knock.

So, with Riccardo Calafiori, Piero Hincapie and Cristhian Mosquera all sidelined, we have four senior defenders at our disposal later if Saliba doesn’t make it. So, we could see a back four of Ben White, Jurrien Timber, Gabriel, and Myles Lewis-Skelly. As we’ve seen already this season, Declan Rice is a viable option in a defensive position, but hopefully that’s not something we need to see again.

In midfield, I think it will be Rice, with the two Martins returning to the starting line-up. And in the front three Bukayo Saka should return on the right, after which the availability of Leandro Trossard (also a doubt), might inform the other selection decisions. If he’s not around, Gabriel Martinelli comes into this one off the back of a hat-trick in his last game, and then the question is who starts up front.

I think it will be Viktor Gyokeres, because Gabriel Jesus started the Portsmouth game and I don’t know if he’s physically ready to start again so soon. If we’re managing his return to action, it would make sense for the Swedish international to get the nod, but maybe that connection between Jesus and Martinelli might be in the manager’s mind. They connect, and thus far the summer signing has struggled to do that with anyone on a consistent basis.

If it is Gyokeres, I do wonder if Noni Madueke on the left might be a consideration, but given Chelsea’s threat down that side, I suspect there’d need to be a serious conversation about his defensive responsibilities for that to happen. There were moments when he was suspect in that regard on Sunday against Portsmouth, and if they could punish us for it, Chelsea certainly can. Against his old club though, and having been on the receiving end of some stick on and off the pitch when we played there in the league, perhaps that is something to harness.

So, a bit of thinking for the manager to do, and the fact this is a two-legged affair is also a consideration. In this day and age, with the schedule the way it is and the demands on the players, it’s a bit nonsensical that it isn’t a one-off game, but that’s something we have to navigate. Whether that makes this first leg a tighter affair we’ll have to wait and see, or if the relative importance of this competition plays a part in our approach.

For many, and for very obvious reasons, the League Cup is 4th on the list of trophies you want to win. In the early rounds, the manager did rotate, using a mix of young players and those who are perhaps more ‘squad’ than ‘first name on the team sheet’ options. Now though, it’s a semi-final, it’s a London derby against Chelsea, and that makes this a game we have to approach seriously and professionally regardless of more lofty ambitions elsewhere.

Mikel Merino summed it up from the perspective of the players, saying:

Every game matters. For us it doesn’t matter if it’s Carabao Cup, FA Cup, friendly. It’s not only about the competition we’re playing for, it’s just we’re playing for the badge, we’re playing for our reputation and every game that we wear this shirt, we have to do our best. We have to win and we have to put on a good performance. The main thing is to show that we are Arsenal, that we are ready to compete every single time and the rest will take care of itself.

While Arteta said:

The boys are really motivated and at it because we can sense that that’s where we want to be and we have to make another step in order to achieve what we want and that’s the objective. We’re looking forward to a big game tomorrow and how we’re going to behave in these scenarios to achieve what we want.

This is a club that hasn’t won a trophy in coming up on 6 years. We all want the Premier League, obviously, but it doesn’t have to be either or. You can make a good argument that winning something could be fuel to go on and achieve that, where a group of players that have come so close to success could really benefit from winning something tangible. I also think this is a big game for the manager as well. His record in semi-finals isn’t particularly great, and I think from his own perspective, this will be a tie over two legs that he will be desperate to win. We know how much he values improvement in every aspect, and this is one very much tied him personally.

So, there’s no question Arsenal and Arteta will take this seriously, and should take this seriously. Then it’s about producing the kind of performances over the two games that earn us a Wembley final. We didn’t do ourselves justice against Newcastle last season, I hope that we put that right this time around.

As ever, you can join us later for live blog coverage, we’ll bring you all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News, and there’s a preview podcast on Patreon to listen to as well. For now, have a good one.

Come on you reds!

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