Three days after that 1-1 draw against Manchester City, the Gunners are back in action as they are scheduled to take on Port Vale tonight. Arsenal will make the trip to Staffordshire in fairly good spirits following their last-gasp equaliser on Sunday. After finishing as semi-finalists last season, the Gunners will be looking to go one step better this term as they kick off their EFL Cup campaign.
They will be aiming for a win, but Mikel Arteta is expected to heavily rotate the squad, giving vital minutes to some members of a very deep group.
Competition: EFL Cup – round 3
Kick-off: 8pm UK time
Venue: Vale Park, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire
Referee: Andrew Kitchen
Team news
The biggest talking point with regards to team news is the recent injury to Noni Madueke. The England international, who had just been finding his feet in an Arsenal shirt, picked up a knee injury against City and will now spend weeks on the sidelines. Piero Hincapié also sustained a groin injury in the lead up to the City game and will be out, while Martin Ødegaard remains a doubt for this encounter. Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus continue as long-term absentees.
Predicted line-up
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arteta suggested that he could give minutes to a number of players tonight, saying:
“Yes, it’s a lot of players that are going to take part in that, and they fully deserve the minutes. Kepa, for sure, is one of them. He’s been with us, his attitude, the way he supports us in every aspect of his role in the best possible manner. All this as well, they deserve more minutes than what they’re getting.”
Without wasting time, here is the predicted line-up for the encounter:
Kepa Arrizabalaga
Myles Lewis-Skelly
Cristhian Mosquera
Riccardo Calafiori
Ben White (c)
Christian Nørgaard
Mikel Merino
Ethan Nwaneri
Max Dowman
Gabriel Martinelli
Leandro Trossard
Score prediction: Arsenal 4-0 Port Vale
Do you agree with this predicted line-up and score, Gooners?
COYG!
Benjamin Kenneth
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Ben, as a formality the home team Port Vale written first. Man Utd were beaten by Grimsby a few weeks ago so it somewhat requires caution though not in the level of Arteta. Newly bought players and those affected by poor performance alongside lack of goals need to play in this match to have a morale booster. Carabao Cup is no more a neglected competition as in recent years only the top teams are reaching the final. Winning it in February creates a good vibe for the EPL title race. Last season Pool’s results deteriorated after losing the final v Newcastle. So the line up comprised of a mixture of first team players, fringe players and youngsters with a view also to building chemistry esp in the attack. My idea: Kepa/ white saliba mosquera skelly/ nordgaard merino eze/ Saka Gyokeres Martinelli. Dowman Nwaneri Trossard amongst the so called finishers. Whether Arsenal players play train or go to vacation injury is there to happen.
Noted !
I’ve got 10/11 CORRECT. From my predicted starting line up only Gyokeres comes off the bench. Saka and Saliba need game time as they returned from injuries. In order to accomodate Nwaneri in the 10, Eze goes to the left flank where he failed v Bilbao. Dowman in the weekend played and scored for the u21 so fair to bring him off the bench.