Arsenal get lucky again with easiest draw in Carabao Cup

Arsenal are not the only Premier League club that was handed a tie against lower league opposition for the next round of the Carabao cup, as there are five teams from the Championship among the 16 sides left in the competition and they have been spread around.

So there will only be three all EPL ties while Man City face Wolves, Leicester face Leeds, Bournemouth face Middlesborough and Crystal Palace go to Bristol City. You have to accept that Arsenal got the best draw, though, because not only will it be played at the Emirates stadium towards the end of October, but our opponents Norwich City are the lowest placed team left in the draw.

After getting League One Doncaster in the last round, also at home, it looks like some luck is going our way, in this particular cup at least. The draw will allow Arsene Wenger to rest key first team players once again and give valuable playing time to some young Gunners and fringe members of the squad while keeping a very good chance of progression.

More possible good news comes with the fact that Chelsea, Man United and Tottenham are three of the sides to get EPL opponents and with their European games they may field weakened sides and drop out, so could this oddly named League Cup have Arsenal’s name on it this season?

Bob.

9 Comments

  1. Well, does league cup fetch us European place?
    In the days when we were always contending for EPL and CL, league cup was for the academy players and FA cup for those lacking enough game time. I remember one FA cup final against Man U where king Henry was in the stands though we lost we were not well beaten.
    So, winning league cup will not be an achievement to me.

  2. Cup is a cup we should win compition which we play no matter what is it , only thing is priority which compition gets higher priority.

  3. I think it’s a around a quarter of a century since we last won the League Cup, and I know it’s bottom of the list of priorities, but I would love to win it. Would be great seeing some of our youngsters win a trophy, as they won’t get much of a chance in the other competitions.

    1. A day out at Wembley is never a bad thing and it would be great as you say to see the youngsters get into the winning habit. But it shouldn’t come at any price to our league performances, even if we make the final.

  4. We can’t count our chickens, when players are thrown together without regular playing time alongside one another, versus a team that plays regularly together, it can even things up a little. Some sloppy play is always expected when you are trying to give out some minutes. We have more quality, but rustiness and mistakes are still a concern.

  5. I remember when we played Norwich one time when they were still in the Premier League. We had 78% possession of the ball, by far the better chances, yet they walked away with 3 points (1-0 victory). Moral of the story – don’t get ahead of yourself. We were supposed to crush Doncaster last night, but only managed to score one goal. Norwich still pose a threat just like anyone else in this competition. And the fact that we will probably field a weakened side once again actually gives them an advantage. So let’s just take one game, and one opponent at a time.

  6. At least it gives fans who normally cannot get to see Arsenal play at the Emirates a chance to go. Tickets for the Doncaster game were £10 for adults and £5 for kids and concessions in the lower tier and £20 / £10 in the upper tier.

  7. A great opportunity to send out a team of fringe player, young guns and a few first team player who made need a run out.

    Only the foolish under estimate their opponents and think a game is won before the ball is kicked.

    Should have enough to push on past Norwich and see who’s up next as long as we play as a team and show some fit.

    If (a big if so early on) we did win this one it’s another cup with our name on it but not the one you would choose given a choice

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