Arsenal begin their mini-series against Crystal Palace on Wednesday night as the two London clubs face off in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.
The Gunners, who haven't won this competition since 1993, barely had to break a sweat to advance into the last eight. Victories over Bolton and Preston have come at a walking pace. Palace, meanwhile, have beaten Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers as well as Aston Villa, and are hunting their first League Cup semi-final berth since 2012.
After a woeful start to the season, Palace have settled during Oliver Glasner's first full season in charge. The Eagles are up to 15th in the Premier League table having extended their unbeaten run to five games with a 3-1 victory over Brighton in the A23 Derby on Sunday.
Arsenal are also unbeaten since returning from the November international break, but supporters were left deflated by Saturday's goalless draw with Everton. While the pressure is yet to mount on Mikel Arteta, Arsenal's upcoming bouts with the Eagles are significant for the Spaniard. This is a fanbase that expects to win, and the Gunners haven't claimed silverware since Arteta's first season in charge.
Here is 90min's guide to Wednesday's Carabao Cup quarter-final.
Arsenal vs Crystal Palace H2H Results (Last Five Games)
Current form (all competitions)
Arsenal Crystal Palace
Arsenal 0-0 Everton - 14/12/24 Brighton 1-3 Crystal Palace - 15/12/24
Arsenal 3-0 Monaco - 11/12/24 Crystal Palace 2-2 Man City - 07/12/24
Fulham 1-1 Arsenal - 08/12/24 Ipswich Town 0-1 Crystal Palace - 03/12/24
Arsenal 2-0 Man Utd - 04/12/24 Crystal Palace 1-1 Newcastle - 30/11/24
West Ham 2-5 Arsenal - 30/11/24 Aston Villa 2-2 Crystal Palace - 23/11/24
Country TV channel/live stream
United Kingdom Sky Go UK, NOW, SKY GO Extra, Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports+
United States Paramount+
Canada DAZN Canada
Raheem Sterling
Raheem Sterling has barely played for Arsenal since joining on loan / Eurasia Sport Images/GettyImages
Arsenal are still without a number of full-backs for Wednesday's cup tie, with Arteta confirming ahead of Saturday's draw that Riccardo Calafiori was not yet ready to return to action due to a groin injury.
Calafiori, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko are thus all expected to miss out again in midweek.
The Gunners boss will make a couple of changes from the weekend's XI, but a strong lineup is expected to be put out. Thomas Partey could come into Arsenal's midfield, while Raheem Sterling is in contention for a rare start in the frontline. Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard are both likely to play despite the build-up of fixtures.
Arsenal predicted lineup vs Palace (4-3-3): Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Partey, Rice, Odegaard; Saka, Havertz, Sterling.
Daichi Kamada
Daichi Kamada has already enjoyed success at the Emirates / Alex Pantling/GettyImages
Glasner has settled upon a stable XI in the Premier League and there are unlikely to be wholesale changes from the team that started at the Amex on Sunday. However, the Eagles are unlikely to be unchanged.
Cheick Doucoure and Daichi Kamada, who scored a brace at the Emirates for Eintracht Frankfurt, could both come into the Palace XI after appearing off the bench on Sunday.
Former Gunner Eddie Nketiah started the third and fourth round wins over QPR and Aston Villa. He could replace Jean-Philippe Mateta up top.
Wednesday's visitors are without Adam Wharton, Matheus Franca, Joel Ward, and Chadi Riad due to injury.
Palace predicted lineup vs Arsenal (3-4-2-1): Henderson; Chalobah, Lacroix, Guehi; Munoz, Kamada, Doucoure, Mitchell; Sarr, Eze; Nketiah.
Glasner's Eagles have settled after a terrible start to the season, with the Austrian getting to grips with a squad bereft of Michael Olise's talent. Ismaila Sarr is the new danger man in town, and the former Watford winger will be crucial to their chances on Wednesday. They must retain a threat in transition against a team capable of suffocating their opponents into submission.
However, while Arsenal have exerted impressive control in recent weeks, they've struggled in the final third. Palace are unlikely to dig their heels in to the extent Everton did on Saturday, but the visitors will cede territory and aim to frustrate their hosts. The Eagles' back three could tame an unbalanced frontline dwindling in confidence, and Arteta must be careful with team selection here. A rotated Gunners outfit could struggle.
Palace may have a sniff here, but it's tough to back the visitors to win outright.
Prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Crystal Palace
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