Arsenal play their second North London derby of the month on Wednesday, as Tottenham Hotspur visit the Emirates Stadium for the League Cup quarter-final.
Unai Emery got off to a good start against Arsenal’s local rivals with a 4-2 win at the Emirates earlier in December. Now he needs to try and follow it up in the cup, with 90 minutes between his team and the semi-finals.
After playing a Premier League match on Sunday, with another coming up on Saturday, Emery might be tempted to rotate some of the team for this clash. However, a North London derby in the League Cup is still a North London derby, so we expect him to go pretty strong all the same.
Let’s have a look at our predicted XI and team news for the match.
Goalkeeper and Centre-Backs
Petr Cech should come in for Bernd Leno. Tottenham are the best team in the league at scoring headers, an area Leno struggled with on Sunday, conceding three. Cech is one of the best goalkeepers around at dealing with crosses, so this is his area of expertise.
Also, he’s Arsenal’s cup goalkeeper, and he didn’t get a game last week in the Europa League, so he’ll be itching to get back out there.
Unai Emery showed on Sunday that he wants to stick with a back three, even with the team’s injuries at the moment. Sokratis Papastathopoulos should come back in after his suspension, whilst Emery confirmed Shkodran Mustafi will be assessed ahead of the game. If he’s fit, he’ll be back in the team.
However, for the time being, it looks like Stephan Lichtsteiner is more likely to start the match. Arsenal have already declared him fit to start.
That leaves the left centre-back, and Nacho Monreal will probably fill in there. Laurent Koscielny is an option, but three starts in under a week might be too much for him.
If Monreal isn’t up to two games in four days after returning from injury, Granit Xhaka is an alternative option.
Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Wing-Backs, Forwards and the Full Starting XI
Midfield and Wing-Backs
After his performance against Tottenham a couple of weeks ago, it’s difficult to imagine Unai Emery leaving Lucas Torreira out of the team. Alongside him will either be Granit Xhaka, Matteo Guendouzi, which will depend on Sead Kolasinac’s availability.
Like Mustafi, Emery confirmed that Kolasinac will be assessed ahead of the game. If he’s available, he’ll play at left wing-back, but if he isn’t, Nacho Monreal will have to move forward, leaving a space for Xhaka to fill in defence. In that case, Guendouzi would start in midfield, as against Southampton.
On the right, Ainsley Maitland-Niles will fill in after Hector Bellerin was ruled out for a few weeks, and Stephan Lichtsteiner picked up that knock against Southampton.
Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the Full Starting XI
Forwards
After another assist at the weekend, despite coming off the bench, Lacazette should be involved from the start on this occasion.
If Emery decides to use the same system that worked so well against Tottenham in the second half of the league game, the French striker will start alongside Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang with either Mesut Özil or Aaron Ramsey in behind.
Ramsey still hasn’t played since his injury, so Özil is probably favourite to start this one, after he made a start last Thursday and a substitute appearance on Sunday. It’s possible Ramsey might drop into midfield alongside Torreira if Xhaka is needed at centre-back, but Emery has generally avoided using the Welshman in a midfield two so far.
Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan will both be rested from the start, and Eddie Nketiah will probably make an appearance on the bench. Emile Smith Rowe still isn’t fit to return to the squad, after appearing in Arsenal’s previous League Cup games.
Click ‘Next’ for the Full Predicted Starting XI
Predicted Starting XI
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Arsenal vs Tottenham Betting Tips
Tottenham have failed to keep a clean sheet against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on every single occasion since it opened. Bet on Arsenal to score first with BetUK.com at 20/23.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is the Premier League’s top scorer, and he’s scored six goals in six appearances against Tottenham. Bet on Aubameyang to score first with BetUK.com at 33/10.
The last time Arsenal faced Tottenham in the League Cup it ended 2-1 to the Gunners, and the last time Spurs beat an Arsenal side in a cup competition was 2008. Bet on Arsenal to qualify with BetUK.com at 4/5.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Tottenham (37/4 with BetUK.com).