There’s been a lot of talk around Arsenal’s ‘dark arts’ already this season.
Our willingness to slow the game down, to get physical, to innovate at set pieces; it’s quickly become a feature of how we play our football and it’s fair to say it’s caused a stir.
If there’s any other side in the Premier League who know a thing or two about ‘dark arts’, however, it’s most certainly Newcastle. In terms of sheer physicality, brutishness and a willingness to get amongst their opponents, there are few other sides as adept as the Magpies.
Put together, we have already seen things can get heated between Mikel Arteta’s men and Eddie Howe’s pretenders and I would expect more of the same when the sides meet at the Emirates tonight. Don’t expect things to be reticent or retiring, expect them to be big and ugly.
Once upon a time that would have been a problem for Arsenal but not so these days. If anything, this team thrives on the blood and thunder fixtures and this will most certainly be one of those.
Though the Carabao Cup is not the most glamorous or sought-after of competitions among all those we are contesting this season, it remains a trophy and, now that we are on the cusp of a final, it seems right that we give this tie a good showing.
At the same time, I’m conscious that the squad is running on fumes at the moment and there really isn’t any break for them between now and next month. As soon as we welcome a player or two back into the fold, we seem to lose another for an extended period. It’s been a constant feature of the season. Finding a balance and protecting players for the challenge ahead will be key for the manager.
You can be certain, with fewer commitments of their own to worry about, Newcastle will be going full-tilt at Arsenal over the two legs so the manager will need to ensure there is enough experience in the squad to offset any accommodations he makes elsewhere.
In terms of personnel, I would hope this means opportunities for the likes of Jakub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, and Jorginho. In an ideal world, this would also be a platform for Raheem Sterling and Ethan Nwaneri but it seems we will be without both through injury and illness. That means more minutes for Gabriel Martinelli and Leandro Trossard which is far from ideal given they will likely be in action again at the weekend.
For now, that is the bind we find ourselves in and we can only hope the squad finds a way to continue muddling through while players return to fitness and/or the manager dips into the transfer market for some external solutions. I fear the latter may be fanciful, however.
If you offered me a 1-0 win to take to Newcastle next month I would probably take it. It’s unlikely to be enough to win the tie as a whole but a clean sheet and an opportunity to get some bodies back for the return leg is probably the best option we have available at the moment. If nothing else, I would hope we could avoid any more injuries!
Though, given how this fixture has played out in the era of Eddie Howe, I expect it to be a bruising encounter.
Blog on You Gunners 