Ethan-Nwaneri-arsenal
Arsenal will welcome Crystal Palace at the Emirates Stadium in the quarter-final of the EFL Cup tonight.
The Gunners will be coming into this game off the back of a 0-0 draw against Everton in the Premier League and they also drew versus Fulham in the league before the Toffees assignment.
The North London club have reached this stage of the EFL Cup by beating Bolton Wanderers and Preston North End in the last two rounds. So, the Eagles will be the toughest challenge for them in this tournament this term.
On the other hand, Crystal Palace have had a tough start to this season but they have started looking stronger in recent fixtures. They recently drew versus Aston Villa and Manchester City, while they defeated Brighton and Hove Albion in the league last weekend.
Oliver Glasner’s side had to overcome the challenges of Norwich City, QPR and Aston Villa in the previous rounds to reach the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup.
Team news
Mikel Arteta has said in his pre-match press conference that there is nothing new to report regarding the team news from the previous game with Oleksandr Zinchenko and Riccardo Calafiori set to remain sidelined with their respective problems. Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are also not in contention to feature owing to injury issues.
Predicted line-up
Arteta is likely to make some changes to his starting eleven for this game but David Raya is set to continue between the sticks. Gabriel Magalhaes returned to action after remaining sidelined in the previous few games but he could be given a breather tonight.
So, William Saliba is expected to be paired up with Jakub Kiwior in the centre-back position, while Jurrien Timber and Myles Lewis-Skelly might be the two fullbacks.
Jorginho could be deployed in the deep-lying playmaker position so Thomas Partey should get a rest in midweek. Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard may also be given a breather tonight, therefore Mikel Merino and Ethan Nwaneri could complete the midfield trio.
Raheem Sterling might get the nod to start to allow Bukayo Saka to take a midweek break, while Leandro Trossard should commence on the opposite side. Gabriel Jesus is expected to be the number nine in this encounter, therefore Kai Havertz could feature off the bench if needed.
Expected Arsenal line-up vs Crystal Palace
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Jorginho, Merino, Nwaneri; Sterling, Jesus, Trossard
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