Image: Confirmed Arsenal team to take on Liverpool in EFL Cup semi-final decider

The teams are out for tonight’s EFL Cup semi-final clash, where Arsenal will hopefully be able to take advantage of our hard-fought 0-0 result at Liverpool last week.

The Gunners came out of last week’s tie full of pride after refusing to be beaten by the Reds at Anfield despite playing for over an hour with only 10-men.

We now have the advantage of playing in front of our home crowd as we look to settle this, and while Mikel Arteta refused to reveal any early team news, we can now see his selection for the fixture.

We got the personnel right in our predicted line-up from this afternoon, which we assume will see us line-up in a 4-3-3 formation.

How do you fancy our chances after seeing the teamsheet?

Patrick

Tags Arsenal v Liverpool EFL Cup Liverpool

128 Comments

          1. It’s being reported he’s not happy at being overlooked for this cup, and with bowing out of the FA cup so early when will he play?? The plot thickens…

    1. This midfield isn’t the strongest. I guess Martinelli will tuck back in to midfield and ESR will occupy the wings

  1. based on the starting lineup you can clearly see why a postponement could have been in the offing

        1. not surprised whatsoever DK…the bulk of the posters on here are just going through the motions anyways

  2. Great news Tomiyasu playing. Strong line up. Let’s hope we can hold our own in the midfield. Partey is back???????

      1. Probably seeing we had a hookey ref, who gave a hookey yellow card and is being ‘investigated’. Very ‘Tory’.

  3. I just hope and pray this lineup win us this match. IF NOT, don’t see the need for the unnecessary postponement. A win today will only justify the postponement.
    This is a very strong squad, bar midfield, we have a better team than Liverpool.
    Let’s enjoy football tonight, it has been awhile I watched my beloved team play.

    1. Agreed not sure who our ball winner in midfield is, hopefully Lokonga steps up but I think our forward line is slightly stronger than Liverpool’s and will make the difference.I predict a 3-2 AET

  4. A sobering thought, we have not beaten Liverpool in the last 17 attempts and have not scored against them in the last 4 games against them.

  5. Kudos to Arteta for taking a high risk, by playing one CDM with two mezzalas

    I like his attacking intention. But hopefully he won’t assign Odegaard on the left, because he’s never played well on that side

    1. Our midfield is lightweight in comparison to Liverpool’s , who will dominate them physically but hopefully our trio can keep more possession.

      1. I doubt we’ll win the ball possession, because Liverpool’s passes are more accurate and more creative. But maybe our supporters can help

      1. He could’ve assign White, Azeez or Chambers to accompany Lokonga and play Holding as the right CB

        1. Let’s be realistic shall we, he’s never done that so no, this team picked itself.

          He could’ve put Tavares striker as well, but also not happening.

  6. Okay well enough creatively on the pitch to get a goal or create…

    Partey on bench, he must want to get stuck back into it while he is feeling good and playing fit, hats off to him!

    SmithRowe & Øde back is nice to see.

    Draw 2-2 Penalties decides this one

  7. Our strongest side we are totally refreshed and are at-home. So logically we should win. Liverpool without their best two strikers. Not saying it’s a failure if we lose but we start favourite. Having said that it’s a one off and Liverpool will be sore about not beating ten man Arsenal last time out. Could go either way. COYG

  8. Our mid field is a big worry. I hope Lokonga doesn’t play for Liverpool and help them with and assist.

    1. I don’t think he cares if we make the final of the Caraboa Cup in all fairness, he probably doesn’t even know what it is.

  9. Ben White has been caught with the ball by a striker as last man in almost every game he’s played for us.

    Generally goes unnoticed as the rest of his game is decent but he’s been very fortunate so far that none of them have been costly.

  10. Are we pressing high or not when out of possession?? Seems to be somewhere inbetween that can get you into a lot of trouble….as it just has.

    Terrible! Either high press, 3 quarter press or half press….we are doing none.

    1. 5 times now we’ve had our pressers turned and guess what happens? They have half a field to run at us without an Arsenal player in sight. Exactly what happens with only half the team pressing.

      It looks like a 7 years old has set up our press!

  11. We have too many players slipping over for some reason ????
    We are far too slow and we cant afford to concede again

    1. Zero midfield runners is the issue, Laca drops deep like usual but needs guys running past him. ESR or Ode need to start making runs.

      1. Midfield doing ok so far but they press much tighter close down spaces quicker and offer better options …

  12. Ramsdale’s reflex was awful and Tomiyasu was beaten several times. Firmino and Jota showed our attackers how to play false nine properly

    Lacazette wasn’t quick enough to do the high press. He will only get slower and less energetic as he ages, so we’d better let him go at the end of this season and find his replacement ASAP

    We can’t beat Liverpool’s passing variations, so we might need to replace our tired attackers with Nketiah and maybe Tavares in the second half

    1. Not Ramsdale’s fault at all, miss-hits are pretty much the most difficult shots to save.

      Tomi should’ve showed him down the line and then Ben White should’ve pushed into the hole when he saw Tomi in trouble.

      Laca is pressing alone, there’s a very clear misalignment in the pressing tactics from MA…some press, while other’s don’t at all. The coach needs to sort it out, not Lacas fault at all. Aren’t you seeing the poor tactics?

      1. Jota’s shot was slow enough to be saved by Ramsdale

        Lacazette was obviously too slow for the high press. Nketiah did it better

        1. So why is Laca pressing then? It’s the instruction aka tactics from the coach!

          A keeper sets themselves for a shot based on the movement and angle of a striker lining up a shot. You might not understand it but it’s really difficult for a keeper when a balls completely miss hit.

    1. It’s no shame to lose to liverpool but it does show just how far behind the top 3 we are as far as our squad is concerned.
      We need to rebuild asap

      1. It’s shame to lose to a depleted Liverpool. What would be the case if they had salah and mane. We have almost all our starting 11 at the stadium including Partey.

    2. Lókonga is not having half a bad game as much as Tomiyasu is. Maybe Tomi is a little match rusty. We need to move the ball quicker. Saka has been slow. Not his usual self

  13. Tomiyasu and saka are having a poor game as well. Martinelli, lókonga, Tierney and odegaard have been our best players so far.

  14. This is minus partey our best team against a sub par Liverpool team .
    We have a good set of players but one disadvantage which is our manager .

    1. My point exactly. I’m thankful the NLD was postponed. Seeing the way spurs play and the way we do. It was a definite L for us. No bias

  15. People keep attacking me everytime I say this…..but Ben White is not a good defender 1v1!

    Can’t wait for Saliba to get here!

    1. White is not a great player, just looks good because Holding and Chambers are worse at CB.

      Saliba will challenge him if Arteta gives him the honest chance. I always feel White would be better at DM with Saliba and Gabriel at CB, think we would be stronger defensively and better midfield with Partey as CM.

      1. 4 place in the league? You must be deluded if you think we can get that and properly best not to as we would get totally embarrassed playing in the CL. As I said earlier we are so so far behind the top clubs and not just on the pitch

  16. We have failed to learn a proper pressing game for a decade at least .. and it contributes to thwart progress

    1. *facts being stated.

      Performance is poor now, hence the comments now. Do you think we are playing well?

  17. Liverpool really look more likely to score than we do right now with all the back passes. Saka is really poor today

    1. No surprise, Kstyx. Bar the first 15 minutes, we’ve been bang average. After everything we did last week to play like this… well that’s all our eggs in one basket now – haven’t we been here before??

      1. Right you are Sue. What an anti-climax from the first leg. Poor performances all round. Now the top 4 doesn’t even seem certain anymore. And to crown up the terrible night, a red card for partey.

        1. You couldn’t make it up!! What a thoroughly miserable night, Kstyx. Almost threw up at the start when the commentator said Odegaard and his family support Liverpool!! 🤬

  18. we’re a bog of toys out there, both positionally and tactically…do we even have a training pitch???

  19. Say what you want but for a home side performance it’s embarrassing! Most of our better players have been dire. Although, Martinelli has been our best by a million miles. Saka and ESR were not at it today and that is why we have one shot on target.

  20. We look very weak with this lokonga guy I don’t like is type of play I think, the worst player on the pitch

    1. You think we are better than Spurs, Chelsea and West ham? You seem to be trusting the process there mate 😂

  21. Tiring. Martinelli is a striker. He needs to play CF while a top winger brought in. Something is wrong with this team

  22. its happening again. that thing where we cant put two parts of a season together. We will be done by March if we dont get at least one meaningful player in.

  23. That was a ridiculous challenge by Partey. We were losing and going out, so what was the point of such a daft challenge. Tonight is done, but we need him for the league

    1. just one game. too bad its a bus parking team and a midfielder like Partey is exactly what we needed against them. i mean, a lot of this chaos couldve been avoided if the club didnt let AMN go.

      1. My point exactly and that’s why we can’t challenge spurs for the top 4. Let’s face it. They have a better managed team. Period

  24. If a game matters then the Arsenal doesn’t think it matters. Top 4 will be luck if anything this season.

    1. top4 is not going to happen at this rate. It’s the usual time of the season where arsenal crumble. whenever any positive focus is put on us, we shrink. then re-emerge once the pressure is off. this team wont perform again until april/may.

        1. were getting pretty close to the 2 decade mark now. Arsenal still stuck in this awful awful cycle. If we dont get a big player in in the next 2 weeks, we’re finished.

    2. Another sending off we are pathetic. Personally never rated partey waste of money and should never have played tonight but just my opinion

  25. there’s the cherry on this sh** sundae…why would you even have Partey on the pitch considering his recent schedule…the tactics are astoundingly poor today, wide-side players facing constant double-teams with no overlapping runners and low percentage crosses into a box with one or two players tops, one of which is too diminutive to matter…thank god they didn’t have their full squad to choose from or this could have been even more embarrassing

    1. Just as well we didn’t face the Spuds either! The squad is so thin on the ground and we still want to loan more players to save a few quid!

    2. Spot on TRVL4…. Liverpool came with a game plan… double team on our wingers
      especially saka and press our deep lying midfielders…. klopp obviously did his homework…

      Arteta needs to start evolving as a tactician..do not do same thing over and over without expecting a reaction from opponents… predictable tactics….we gunners and opponents likewise could easily tell the formation tactics, selection

      We need a striker and midfielder ASAP….lokonga is too lightweight for EPL,man needs to add some steel

      We have Chambers, white who could play DM.. Tavares who is a natural winger….Arteta needs to be unpredictable and have alternative tactics to be a top manager

      1. The funny thing though Is Arteta is so predictable. Same tactics, same formations. We had Pepe seating on the bench in most games and Saka being over used and having fatigue. Even when we are winning some games, Saka plays the full 90 minutes.
        Arteta is yet to play Chambers or White in DM.
        AMN is not even trusted in that role.
        Arteta is naive and arrogant at the same time

  26. Liverpool were much the better side in the second half. The top 3 are way ahead of the rest. We still have an outside chance of top 4 although Spurs are better equipped with an elite manager.

  27. Arsenal are absolutely crap why would any top player want to join them million miles away from challenging for anything the club has become a laughing stock it’s so painful to watch!Arteta out!

  28. Well I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed. It’s just the Carabao cup. I must say this young team has surprised me. They can only get better from here. Kola is gone, Mari on his way out, AMN will surely be leaving, Laca, Nketia process continues. I think by next season we will be strong contenders. The next league game is more important than the this game IMO. Trust the Process we will only get better.

    1. Who made up the phase of trust the process because it’s only said by fans who haven’t a clue about football and so obviously never kicked a ball before. WHAT BLOODY PROCESS ARE YOU ALL TALKING ABOUT

  29. Have we won any game this month?
    Best we can get on Sunday is a draw. 4 red cards against Liverpool and city, go a long way to tell how far behind we are. Only Ode and Martinelli can hold there head high.
    It was a game of boys against men.
    Our players look like they are not fit. I guess, Saka, Tomi, and ESR aren’t match fit yet

  30. Hopeless – and Liverpool didn’t want to play because of a depleted squad – at home with their two top strikers out. Unacceptable

  31. Ödegaard was good today. We need a striker that’s also good in the air. Auba, Eddie, Laca are all ball to feet players and only Laca is half decent at holding it up.

    Also why is the never anyone coming in on the far post when there is a cross? What is the point of crossing then if it isn’t pin point accurate? Amateur really.

  32. Problem is,, Arteta has never had a plan B. Can’t keep using AFCON as an excuse. Burnley must be licking their lips waiting for the weekend to come. What half decent midfielder/striker will come to this club?? Top 4 is way way beyond Arsenal now after that. We won’t beat Wolves playing this kinda shit football. Tottenham, Manchester United, West Ham are laughing at Arsenal. The game is quite simple,, you score goals, and you will win games. Not with this team. There are no leaders on or off the pitch. The blind leading the blind. Bring in Stevie Wonder😎

    1. Slow down pjennings….I know we all ain’t happy about the loss which shouldn’t be surprising to us… Liverpool, Chelsea,man city are at a different level to us currently..

      But this team is still the 4th best team in the EPL and don’t forget the youngest with a fresh few months old starting eleven….

      We will still defeat most of the smaller teams as usual and clinch the top four no doubt or at least return to Europe…
      Keep the faith

  33. Tomiyasu was really struggling today the break in between games and Covid really disrupts our running streak. But we will definitely bounce back!!! Just need some reinforcement in the DM position. Not really going to get depressed over this.

  34. The funny thing though Is Arteta is so predictable. Same tactics, same formations. We had Pepe seating on the bench in most games and Saka being over used and having fatigue. Even when we are winning some games, Saka plays the full 90 minutes.
    Arteta is yet to play Chambers or White in DM.
    AMN is not even trusted in that role.
    Arteta is naive and arrogant at the same time

  35. Actually thought this was a good performance by the players if not the manager. What can we say about Martinellii playing his guys out without being given any back up support. The usual issues with Arteta.1. loves the sideways and backwards passing
    2. Stifles the players creativity with over management
    3 Overeliance on Odegaard who is not the type to make things happen
    4 Arteta type players are not match winners. Six new signings last Summer but none of them are game changers. Take Tomyasu for example. I like his defensive work but today Arsenal needed an attacking overlapping option and he was definitely not the man.
    5. Is it just me or is Ben White seriously over rated.
    Final observation, today we could have used Gaunduzi, Saliba and probably Pepe. Outside of that ,no major disaster. It’s only a tin pot tournament after all.

Comments are closed

Top Blog Sponsors