On Thursday night, Arsenal and Liverpool will face off in the first leg of their EFL Cup semi-final at the Emirates Stadium....CONTINUE READING
To reach the last four, the Gunners defeated Sunderland 5-1 in the quarter-finals, while Jurgen Klopp’s side needed penalties to beat an inspired Leicester City.
It’s always a shame when such exciting matches are overshadowed by questionable refereeing or VAR decisions—such is the nature of the modern game—but Arsenal showed definite signs of growth against Manchester City on New Year’s Day.
In the first half, Bukayo Saka gave Arsenal a merited lead, but Riyad Mahrez equalized for the champions from the spot before Rodri’s last-gasp winner buried Arsenal’s 10 men, who had Gabriel Magalhaes sent off for two silly yellow cards.
Mikel Arteta’s side, on the other hand, is obviously a different animal from the one that lost at the Etihad Stadium earlier this season, and the top-four contenders cruised through Sunderland 5-1 to reach the EFL Cup semis last month.
The Gunners’ five-game winning streak and 12-game unbeaten streak at home in all competitions came to an end in an arguably undeserved defeat to Manchester City, but they have scored in each of their last nine matches and will not turn down a chance at silverware.
TEAM NEWS:
Nicolas Pepe, Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have all been called up to the African Cup of Nations, but the latter was anticipated to miss out anyway.
Following his red card against Man City, Gabriel will serve his one-match suspension on Thursday, while Sead Kolasinac is out injured and Calum Chambers is a doubt because of COVID-19.
Due to the absence of Partey and Elneny, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will compete for midfield slots, and Arteta should entrust Bernd Leno with the gloves.
Here is my predicted line-up for this match.
GOALKEEPER & DEFENDERS:
Leno (GK), Tomiyasu, Ben White, Holding, Tavares.
MIDFIELDERS:
Xhaka, Lokonga, Odegaard.
ATTACKERS:
Saka, Smith Rowe, Nketiah.
