Marc Guehi has admitted Arsenal’s set-pieces could be a problem for Crystal Palace, after they conceded four set-piece goals to Leeds United at the weekend.
Whilst Arsenal had a pretty good warm-up game ahead of the League Cup quarter-final by beating Everton on Saturday, Tuesday’s opponents Crystal Palace were losing 4-1 to Leeds United.
There was definitely a theme to the goals Palace conceded, with Leeds scoring from two long throws, one corner, and one free-kick. It was only thanks to an impressive Dean Henderson save that they didn’t concede a fifth from another corner.
A lot of the talk early in the 2025/26 campaign was about Arsenal’s strength on set-pieces, and Marc Guehi conceded after the Leeds game that their defensive set-piece abilities would be tested again in midweek.
“We will play a team who are better than Leeds at set-pieces,” Guehi admitted. “So if we can defend better and contain them in our low block then counterattack, it will be good for us.
“It is another tough game, so we have to learn quickly and move on.”
With less than three days between Arsenal and Palace’s weekend fixtures and their midweek League Cup clash, it’s likely there will be some rotation in both teams.
The two sides will want to progress to the semi-finals if they can, but both played close to their first-choice sides at the weekend. Lasting another 90 minutes on Tuesday won’t be easy for the players involved.
In conditions like that, perhaps set-pieces could prove to be pivotal once again.