I don’t think we’ve taken the Carabao Cup that seriously in recent times.
More often than not, it’s been seen as an irrelevant distraction and we’ve all been quietly relieved to have exited the competition at the earliest opportunity, especially so in the last two seasons as we’ve gone full tilt at the Premier League.
This time around, though, it feels different.
With a favourable home draw, Manchester City out of the competition, and our league campaign currently stuttering, the relevance of the competition is suddenly increased.
If we can get past Crystal Palace tonight, we’re into the semi-finals of a cup competition. That’s not so lightly dismissed. Now, it’s less of a distraction and more an opportunity.
There’s still a case to be made that Saturday’s trip to Selhurst Park in the league is a much more important game and I have some truck with that point of view. If I were Mikel Arteta, I’d be looking to keep my powder dry for the weekend, make some notes about how Palace perform tonight and keep something in store for them.
That means resting a few of those players who are starting to run on fumes. For my money, Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka and William Saliba should be nowhere near the starting line-up tonight. Put them on the bench if you must but I don’t see the longer-term benefits of risking them from the outset.
That’s not to disparage Palace, who are a troublesome side on their day, but it’s simply being realistic. Saka in particular has played far too much football already in this campaign and could well do with the night off if we can manage it.
Reluctant as the manager is to use him, Raheem Sterling has plenty to offer from the right and it would be silly not to use him on an occasion like this. Ditto Jorginho, Ethan Nwaneri, Jakub Kiwior and Miles Lewis Skelly.
I don’t think we should abandon all hope and reach into the depths of the youth team, not by any means, because I believe we have a good chance at a trophy here but there is room to be strategic in how we go about it tonight. We have enough to beat Palace, even with a few faces rested. We might even be able to introduce those missing few late on if the match is tight.
Palace, I think, will also see this as an opportunity and I would be surprised not to see them at full strength from the start. From our point of view, that’s great. It means we face an opponent who wants to come and play football rather than one, alas Everton, who has absolutely no interest in doing so.
The more ambitious the visitors, the more opportunity for us. Our shooting boots will be required tonight, however.
Whatever happens, I want to see a side that is more ambitious, more adventurous and less inhibited than we have seen on some occasions in the last month. We all know that reinforcements are required to bolster the attack but that doesn’t mean we can’t get better from the players available to us.
In that sense, this is an opportunity too for the likes of Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus, Sterling and Kai Havertz to get amongst the goals and to show us a little more about what they can offer in the second half of this campaign.
In more ways than one, tonight really is an opportunity.
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