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Arsenal host Crystal Palace in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals on Wednesday night
Arsenal and Crystal Palace will do battle at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night aiming to reach the last four of the Carabao Cup. It is the first of back-to-back meetings between the London clubs with the sides facing off at Selhurst Park in the Premier League on Saturday night.
Both Mikel Arteta and Oliver Glasner have some injury problems to contend with, as the pair plan to make some late fitness calls on Wednesday. Newcastle United take on Brentford while Liverpool travel to Southampton in the other quarter-finals on Wednesday. Tottenham Hotspur host Manchester United in the final last eight tie on Thursday.
Arteta has predicted a testing encounter against Palace. He said: “Very tough – when you look at the last results and the approach that they have, the quality of the individuals that they have, how they are coached as well. It’s always really tough, it’s another layer of difficulty as well when you play a team twice in four days, so we have prepared for that. We have managed the squad in the best possible way to make sure everybody is fit and available, feels part of it and is ready when the team needs them. If we have to make changes, I’m sure that the boys who come in will have that and others will have to play as well because of the numbers.”
Palace boss Glasner is targeting victory in both games against Arsenal this week. The Eagles are unbeaten in their last five, having drawn with Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Manchester City while beating Ipswich Town and Brighton. Ahead of Wednesday’s game, Glasner said: “I want to win both games, of course. We play every game to win it so I can't say tomorrow is more important and then we can lose on Saturday. We also don't say the opposite to the players. If we don't believe that we can win, then it's better to go Christmas shopping than to go to the Emirates Stadium - so this can't be our mindset and it is the same on Saturday. It can't be if we win tomorrow we say 'now it's fine and now we relax,' no then we prepare for the next game. Sunday it's time to relax, but this week is really about keeping the focus high and be ready for every single game against a top team in the Premier League, a top team in the world, a top team in the Champions League but this is where you can show how good you are.”
Arsenal injury news
Long-term absentees Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu will remain out for the Gunners while Riccardo Calafiori and Oleksandr Zinchenko will not be involved. Arteta confirmed: “No Alex and Richy will be out of the squad for tomorrow.”
Declan Rice is “fine” according to the Arsenal boss but a later call is set to be made on his availability. On his team selection, Arteta added: “We’ll decide that in the morning in relation to how the squad is, obviously the relevance of the match and where we are in the quarter-finals, it becomes a very important match. We’ll decide the best team to win it.”
Crystal Palace injury news
Jean-Philippe Mateta is available for Palace but a late decision will be made on Eberechi Eze. Glasner said: “We will take the final decision tomorrow, but it looks quite good. He got a hit on the top of his foot and it’s swollen, but he could do a little bit of training today and it looks good, but we will decide tomorrow.”
Adam Wharton is still a “few weeks” from returning while Daniel Munoz is suspended due to the number of yellow cards he has picked up. Matheus Franca is out until January while former Gunners player Rob Holding has not been in a matchday squad since the end of August. Chadi Riad and Joel Ward have yet to make their returns, with no update coming from Glasner on Tuesday.
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