Arsenal travel across London to Stamford Bridge for their Carabao Cup semi-final first leg tie against Chelsea. The Gunners will be hoping to perform better than they did at this stage of the game last year, when they failed to score in both legs and were beaten by Newcastle. I suspect Mikel Arteta will field a fairly strong squad against the Blues, much to the chagrin of those who would like to see the club treat the Carabao Cup with less respect. But silverware is silverware. Victory leads to victory.
Arsenal will play four consecutive away games – last weekend’s FA Cup, today’s game, next weekend’s game against Nottingham Forest and the Champions League away game against Inter Milan. Fortunately, Mikel Arteta was able to rotate his squad heavily against Portsmouth. Today’s game and the Champions League game against Inter Milan were both good, but the result won’t change the overall picture of the season too much.
advertise
Everyone is speculating on how new Chelsea manager Liam Rosenau will build his squad. They are dealing with injuries to key areas and are a club in disarray in both the Premier League and Champions League. The upcoming games in these competitions may be relatively more important for Chelsea than Arsenal (well, not the Premier League – ideally the Gunners win in the Premier League). It’s difficult for a new coach to install his systems and ideas halfway through, especially with games every three or four days.
For Rosenoir, the key will be pushing the right buttons to refocus an otherwise seemingly alienated locker room and get players back on board. In the last few games of Enzo Maresca’s tenure in charge, Chelsea’s players seemed to be making no effort. You’ll see bursts of intention and energy, but not the sustained, driven effort required to succeed. No effort was made to track runners coming back, closing time and space, etc. I know it sounds a lot like what the experts say – PASHUN! – But this is my honest assessment. Chelsea looked washed out under Maresca. Rosenoy has to get his players back.
Following Chelsea’s recent FA Cup win, Rosenova said Cole Palmer, Reece James and Marlo Gusteau are all undergoing injury management and will undergo late fitness tests to determine their suitability against the Gunners. Romeo Lavia is still recovering from a quadriceps issue that appears to be taking longer to heal than initially expected. Levi Colwell suffered a torn ACL in pre-season and is likely to miss the season. Moises Caicedo is suspended for accumulating yellow cards.
Mikel Arteta has revealed that Leandro Trossard and William Saliba have both suffered minor injuries which could (but not definitely) rule them out of today’s game. Piero Hincappi’s groin injury isn’t serious, but it appears to be keeping him on the sidelines longer than the initial positive assessment would suggest, if that makes sense. Christian Mosquera and Max Dauman are out until at least February with ankle injuries. Arteta said their return timetables are similar.
advertise
Lineups will be released as they become available.
WHO: Arsenal vs Chelsea
What: Carabao Cup SF First Round
Where: Stamford Bridge, London
when: Wednesday, January 14, 12:00 PM PT | 3:00 PM ET | 8:00 PM GMT
How to watch: Streaming on the Paramount+ app
For all your international streaming needs, visit LiveSoccerTV.com. Please do not share or discuss links to illegal streams here.
