Arsenal begin their EFL Cup journey away at League One side Port Vale, and Mikel Arteta will aim to win this tournament this term.
Port Vale will host Arsenal in the third round of their EFL Cup journey, and they will certainly hope to cause an upset. The League One side have set up a date with the London giants owing to two narrow wins over Blackpool and Birmingham City, both with a 1-0 scoreline in the opening two rounds of the competition.
Manager Darren Moore will have been proud of those displays against fellow League One and Championship opponents. While they come into Wednesday’s clash against Arsenal as the underdogs, the thought of an upset will fill this squad with confidence, and Port Vale will want to experience such nights, especially on home turf.
Port Vale are not in the best vein of form heading into this game, as they have lost their last two games and only narrowly managed to win at the weekend. They played Mansfield Town, who were down to ten men in the 14th minute, and even with the advantage, it took Moore’s men around the 53rd minute to open the scoring.
They were pegged back late by a Rhys Oates equaliser, only for a penalty from Ronan Curtis deep into injury time to help Port Vale manage to take all three points. Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta came in for a lot of criticism for his team selection in the draw against Manchester City on Sunday.
Arsenal were seen as the favourites to win the clash against Pep Guardiola’s side, but they only managed to steal a point late on in the game through Gabriel Martinelli, who cancelled out Erling Haaland’s early opener.
Guardiola’s side uncharacteristically sat in a low block and had the lowest ever ball possession, something never seen before at Manchester City under the management of the Catalan tactician. Arteta was widely criticised for fielding three midfielders in his starting lineup and going into the game without a recognised attacking midfielder such as Eberechi Eze or Ethan Nwaneri.
However, Arteta will have to take the result on his chin and now focus his efforts on the EFL Cup clash against Port Vale. The Gunners are aiming to go deeper than their semi-final finish last season, when they were comprehensively beaten by eventual winners Newcastle United over two legs.
Hence, Arteta is expected to take this competition seriously, and after the summer business, he has a squad that will prove big enough to compete on all fronts, including the EFL Cup. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.
Team News & Tactics
Port Vale
There are mixed news for Moore ahead of the clash with Arsenal and in light of their hard-fought victory over Mansfield Town. On-loan Wrexham forward Mo Faal has recovered from a hamstring problem and will be in contention for a place in the squad, if not the starting lineup.
However, Liam Gordon was forced off at the weekend with an injury and is a major doubt to play on Wednesday. There are two more absentees in Mitch Clark and Kyle John, with the duo not expected to be fit for this clash or the one at the weekend.
Moore is expected to name a strong lineup with a back three of Cameron Humphreys, Jesse Debrah and Ben Heneghan. The Port Vale boss expected to name Ryan Croasdale, Ben Garrity and George Byers as his midfielders, with the squeezed between wing-backs Jordan Gabriel and Jack Shorrock.
Moore will name Devante Cole and Ronan Curtis as his starting strikers for the Arsenal clash. The duo will certainly aim to help Port Vale become only the third team this season across all competitions to breach the Gunners’ defence.
Probable Lineup (3-5-2): Gauci; Humphreys, Debrah, Heneghan; Gabriel, Croasdale, Garrity, Byers, Shorrock; Cole, Curtis
Arsenal
There are fresh injury concerns over at Arsenal, as Noni Madueke will now miss up to 8 weeks of action after a knee injury sustained against Manchester City. Many fans were left bemused at Mikel Arteta’s decision to substitute the summer arrival at half-time despite his bright display in the game, but the injury was the main reason for the decision.
Fellow summer arrival Piero Hincapie also did not make the matchday squad for the Manchester City game with an unspecified problem. It remains to be seen whether the Ecuadorian defender is fit enough for the cup clash, and he will likely get his first start if that is the case.
Bukayo Saka returned to action following a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring problem, although there is still no news on Martin Odegaard and the recovering Kai Havertz. Leaving the latter aside, the other two are not expected to be risked for this clash, especially Saka, although there’s a chance he makes the bench for this one.
Arteta will likely change his backline, but Gabriel is expected to start, while Ben White and Myles Lewis-Skelly could come into the team. Christian Norgaard could also get his full debut in midfield, while there could be starts for Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard in the forward line, and there’s also a possibility of Max Dowman starting this one on the right wing, or else it might be Ethan Nwaneri.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Kepa; White, Mosquera, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Norgaard, Merino; Nwaneri, Eze, Trossard; Martinelli
Key Stats
- Port Vale last won against Arsenal when they were Woolwich Arsenal back in 1901. Port Vale last faced
- Arsenal in the FA Cup third round in 1997/98, with the Gunners winning on penalties in a replay.
- Arsenal have not won the EFL Cup since 1993.
- Arsenal have won two of their three away games across all competitions this season.
Player to Watch
Gabriel Martinelli
Mikel Arteta might consider using Martinelli in a centre-forward role against Port Vale, and this might be an experiment that may help the team in the short run. The Brazilian has performed well in recent games in that central role, which has produced good results.
Kai Havertz is still out with a knee injury, and it will take time for him to return. So, the pressure on Viktor Gyokeres might be something of a concern for Arteta. Hence, there might be a case of using Martinelli in the centre-forward role, as the Port Vale game could be a good time to experiment.
Prediction
Port Vale 0-4 Arsenal
Port Vale will take confidence from their performances in the EFL Cup so far, which have been resilient 1-0 wins on both occasions. While they will aim to come into this game against Arsenal to cause an upset of sorts, on paper, that may not seem possible.
Arsenal are only coming into their groove with all the new players they have, and will probably use this Port Vale game to polish their skills. Their backline is not expected to concede a goal, while their attackers might use this as a game to improve their creativity and finishing, with the Gunners expected to win with a heavy scoreline.
