In what will be third game in a space of six days, Arsenal take on Championship side Norwich City in the fourth round of the EFL Cup.
The Gunners are coming off a fantastic victory against Everton at Goodison Park and will likely brimming with confidence. They have lost only 1 of their last 10 games in all competitions and will be favourites to progress to the 5th round of the EFL Cup.
The Canaries aren’t doing too badly for themselves in the second tier of English football. They are currently 6th in a table, a mere 7 points away from the top of the table. After a difficult start to the season, they have found their stride and have been on a 9 game unbeaten run since August.
Team News & Tactics
Arsenal
Danny Welbeck, Santi Cazorla, Shkodran Mustafi, Calum Chambers and David Ospina are all expected to miss out on this tie, and given that they only played Everton a day ago, some big changes can be expected to the starting XI that thrashed Everton over the weekend.
Petr Cech will mostly retain his place in goal, while Mertesacker, Nacho Monreal and Laurent Koscielny are expected to be rested and Rob Holding, Mohamed Elneny and Mathieu Debuchy will make up the three man defence, like against Red Star Belgrade.
Sead Kolasinac and Hector Bellerin will likely make way for youngsters Reiss Nelson and Ainsley Maitland-Niles. Francis Coquelin and Jack Wilshere will likely start in midfield ahead of Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka.
Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi might also replace Alexis sanchez and Ozil, while Olivier Giroud is expected to start ahead of Alexandre Lacazette.
Probable Lineup (3-4-2-1): Petr Cech; Mathieu Debuchy, Mohamed Elneny, Rob Holding; Reiss Nelson, Francis Coquelin, Jack Wilshere, Ainsley Maitland-Niles; Alex Iwobi, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott
Norwich City
There are likely to be a few changes to the side that started in their narrow victory against Ipswich on Sunday. Steven Naismith, Matt Jarvis, Alex Pritchard, Louis Thompson, Alexander Tettey and Jamal Lewis are all expected to remain sidelined for this tie.
Daniel Farke will likely stick to their usual 4-2-3-1 formation. Angus Gunn will likely retain his place in defence, as will Christoph Zimmermann, Tim Klose and Ivo Pinto. Marco Stiepermann however, will likely make way for James Husband at left-back.
Harrison Reed and Tom Trybull will likely retain their place in defensive midfield, while James Maddison and Yanic Wildschut will likely be replaced with Josh Murphy and Mario Vrancic, with Wesley Hoolahan moving to a more central role, in behind the striker.
While Portuguese hitman Nelson Oliveira is still easing his way into the side, it is unlikely that he will start against Arsenal in place of Cameron Jerome. The Englishman will likely retain his place in the side ahead of Oliveira, but he may feature in some capacity later in the game.
Probable Lineup (4-2-3-1): Angus Gunn; Ivo Pinto, Timm Klose, Christoph Zimmermann, James Husband; Tom Trybull, Harrison Reed; Mario Vrancic, Wesley Hoolahan, Josh Murphy; Cameron Jerome
Key Statistics
- Arsenal have beaten Norwich City in 4 of their last 6 meetings in all competitions.(L1, D1)
- Norwich have conceded 15 goals against Arsenal in their last 5 matches at the Emirates in all competitions
- Norwich City are unbeaten in their last 9 matches in all competitions.
- Arsenal have scored 11 goals against Norwich City in their last 5 games across all competitions.
- Norwich have failed to score to score in only 1 of the last 5 matches at the Emirates in all competitions.
Prediction
Arsenal 2-1 Norwich City
There will undoubtedly be some major changes to the squad that started in their 2-5 victory against Everton last week, but inspite of their long list of injuries within their squad, the Gunners should be able to come out of this tie victorious, but only just.
However, it is unlikely that the Wenger’s men will be able to put 5 goals past Norwich. The Norfolk side have been in superb form off late and haven’t suffered a defeat in nearly 2 months. The pressure will be on Arsenal in this tie, which will make the visitors even more dangerous.
