Arsenal go to Hillsborough this Tuesday in their second match of their Capital One Cup campaign this season, as they take on Sheffield Wednesday.
The Gunners kicked off their League Cup journey a little over a month ago with a north London derby away at White Hart Lane, in what was a great display from the away side. From the goalkeeper to the striker, the entire starting eleven showed a great deal of fight to their game, pushing them over the line to a well-earned win. One such player who stepped up to the mark on that night was Mathieu Flamini – the Frenchman scored his first ever brace in red and white to grab the win, and overall had a very complete performance. As a result, expect him to start on Tuesday in the midfield.
Last weekend, Arsenal carried on their great form with a 2-1 win over Everton at the Emirates. Two goals in two minutes from Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny meant that Ross Barkley’s goal in injury time of the first half meant little, and Arsenal produced a hard-fought, solid victory which makes them level on points with league leaders Manchester City – and with a particularly favourable fixture list coming up in the next two months in comparison to City’s, this is the chance for an Arsenal side hitting their peak to take a firm grip on pole position.
Moving to the opposition, Wednesday produced a shock win in their last League Cup match, travelling to St. James’ Park to beat Newcastle and keep a clean sheet, in a 1-0 win. Lewis McGugan’s goal on the night wrapped up a match in which Sheffield Wednesday made 10 changes to the team and still came away with a win against the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum, Moussa Sissoko and Tim Krul – so it’s clear that they won’t be a pushover, even against a strong team like Arsenal.
The Owls sit a solid ninth in the Championship, only four points off the playoff spots, and recently beat rivals Rotherham 2-1 in a derby, stretching their unbeaten run to eight games, in what was a performance where they took charge and controlled the proceedings and capitalised on individual mistakes.
Carlos Carvalhal will coach his men to play with a compact shape in the middle of the park, thereby restricting the angles at which the Gunners’ midfield and defence can play passes at and build the attack from. This is a similar tactic to what Dinamo Zagreb used when beating Arsenal 2-1 earlier this season, forcing the north London side to make mistakes whilst cutting off the supply to the forwards. It’s therefore essential that Arsène Wenger and his team learn from their tactical naïvety in Croatia and know how to combat such a restrictive tactic on Tuesday.
A player Sheffield Wednesday will watch out for is Mesut Özil. The German will most likely start due to how thin the squad is on the bench and in the reserves, his fine form helps too. The German has one goal in the league, and seven assists (the league’s highest). He’s been Arsenal’s and the league’s best player this campaign and has picked up a goal and three assists in his last three matches in all competitions. Özil is simply unstoppable at this moment in the time and will be the driving force to not only this match, but for Arsenal in general this season.
A player the away side will want to keep an eye out for is Fernando Forestieri. The Italian has scored three times in six league starts and has formed a good relationship with fellow new boy Lucas Joao (who’s scored three times this season as well). He’s a good player on a technical level and is creative, so expect him to be starting the attacks up for Wednesday and pulling the strings for the team in the final third.
These two teams have not faced off since 2000 when the Owls were relegated from the Premier League, but perhaps the most famous encounters came in 1993. George Graham led his team to face Sheffield Wednesday in that season in both the League Cup and FA Cup finals in a three-match series, the Gunners claiming victory in both competitions at the end. Arséne Wenger will be looking to replicate that 1993 Arsenal side’s progress in these competitions in this campaign as well, and such a campaign will have to mean a strong performance at Hillsborough this Tuesday, as quality should prevail.
Team News:
For Arsenal, there is another addition to the treatment room. The likes of Tomas Rosicky, Danny Welbeck and Jack Wilshere remain out until 2016 most likely – although Jack Wilshere made an appearance on Sky Sports yesterday without a protective boot, raising hope for a return. Aaron Ramsey is out until the West Brom game, and David Ospina is still injured, meaning a potential start for Matt Macey, although Arsene Wenger revealed that Petr Cech is likely to start. Per Mertesacker is also available after illness. Mikel Arteta picked up an ankle problem whilst training before the Everton game, ruling him out of last Saturday’s occasion – so he is most likely out of contention for this game as well. Expect the bench to be heavily youth-orientated.
Carlos Carvelhal has all of Michael Turner, Alex Lopez, Marco Matias and Modou Sougou out injured. He will most likely give a start to young English goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith also.
Predicted XIs:
Sheffield Wednesday (4-4-2): Wildsmith; Hunt, Lees, Loovens, Pudil; Wallace, Lee, Hutchinson, Bannan; Forestieri, Lucas Joao.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): Cech; Debuchy, Mertesacker, Chambers, Gibbs; Flamini, Cazorla; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Özil, Campbell; Giroud.
Prediction:
It should be a fairly easy run out for a heavily changed Arsenal eleven – so this could be a 2-0 scoreline for the Gunners. Goals in the first half from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and a Santi Cazorla penalty will seal the win for Arsène Wenger’s men, thereby continuing their progression through the League Cup.
