Arsenal’s League Cup clash with Fleetwood Town now has a date, but it’s set to clash with the u21s’ EFL Trophy fixture once again.
Arsenal’s upcoming League Cup fourth-round tie away to Fleetwood Town was one of the eye-catching fixtures of the recent draw, with the Gunners to face Fleetwood for the very first time ever in competitive football.
Fleetwood’s 5,300-capacity home ground has a familiar name (Highbury Stadium), and tickets for the match are likely to be very popular.
Those hoping to attend now know the game will take place on Tuesday, October 27th, with the fixture scheduled for 20:00 BST. But the one downside of that scheduling is that it clashes with the EFL Trophy u21 game away to AFC Wimbledon that same day.
The EFL Trophy is intended to give u21 players the chance to play against senior opposition, but some bad luck has found Arsenal repeatedly dealing with clashes with the senior side’s League Cup games – which also often offer that same opportunity.
Their last EFL Trophy fixture was on Tuesday, September 15th, the same day as their Ipswich Town match. The same thing happened last season, with the u21s playing their two of their three group games in the same midweeks as the first team’s League Cup games.
Rather than the likes of Marli Salmon and Ife Ibrahim being able to play in both the League Cup games and also the EFL Trophy fixtures, Arsenal have had to pick and choose.
Often that means a player like Ibrahim plays a few minutes in the League Cup and misses the EFL Trophy game entirely, when he could have played the full 90 if that game was another day.
It’s not as bad for someone like Max Dowman, who will probably get the full match with the first team. But even he would surely have preferred to at least have the option to play the EFL Trophy match as well.
The other issue is that the Arsenal u21s have to field weakened sides after their best players are promoted (Dowman, Salmon, Ibrahim, and Theo Julienne were all called up last time), making it more difficult to progress and extend their EFL Trophy campaign to the knockout stages.
Manager David Horseman won’t welcome having to play his team’s decisive group match without many of the players who could help win it. And if Arsenal end up eliminated, that’s more potential fixtures against senior opponents off the table.
Some of Arsenal’s rivals have been luckier. None of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur, or Chelsea face any clashes at all between the EFL Trophy and the League Cup. Even if Spurs hadn’t been eliminated, their games wouldn’t have clashed.
Manchester City have had a similar situation to Arsenal, but with at least a day or two between games in the two competitions, which is better than nothing.
Manchester United aren’t in the EFL Trophy this season, after deciding not to participate. Though they also appear to have decided not to participate in the League Cup for the last couple of years…
There’s no suggestion of a conspiracy here, but Arsenal have just been very unfortunate with how the calendar has worked out for the last couple of seasons.
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