(Image: Ross Halls)
(Image: Ross Halls)
Ipswich Town manager Gary O’Neil hopes that his side can ‘use the energy of Portman Road under the lights’ to go toe-to-toe with Arsenal in the Carabao Cup tomorrow.
The Gunners are looking to win the trophy for the first time in the 21st century, while the Blues would like a deep run in the competition to boost their confidence as they aim to secure top-flight survival.
Mikel Arteta’s side are the clear favourites to progress, however. O’Neil is aware that knocking the Premier League champions out of the cup will be a real challenge, given their quality, but he expects to compete with them on Suffolk soil.
“Arsenal are tough to beat, even if you do everything right,” he admitted.
“I'll make some changes to my team, I'm sure Mikel will make changes to his team, but it's a game we want to win. I want to get as far in the cups as we can.
“We’re going to give it our best go at home under the lights. I think we missed the opportunity against Liverpool. We played well, but it was already 2-0.
“We missed the opportunity to use the energy of Portman Road under the lights against a big side.
Mikel Arteta is expected to rotate his side at Portman Road (Image: PA)
“So, on Tuesday, we can correct that. We can start the game well. We can take the fans with us on an attempt to beat one of the best sides around.”
Questions remain as to how much the two teams will rotate, given the focus on Premier League success, but O’Neil is aware that Arsenal will field a strong team regardless of how many changes Arteta opts to make.
“We’ll prepare for a top side to come,” he explained.
“We know whether it's [Bukayo] Saka or [Noni] Madueke, for instance, they're going to be good on the right wing. It’s the same with the centre-backs, whichever ones he goes with, they're going to be good. Midfield, the same.
“They have a consistent structure, at least. One of the positives of playing of Arsenal, they're very, very consistent in what they do.
“Prepping the game from a tactical point of view will be fairly straightforward. Stopping them and stopping what they do will not be straightforward.
“There will be some work that goes into that, but we'll also have a strong side. We've worked our socks off in the transfer window to give ourselves a strong squad.
“Of course, we’re a different level to Arsenal at this moment, but we'll be strong on Tuesday and we'll do our best to win the game.”