After a 2-2 draw against Crystal Palace disrupted their excellent winning run in all competitions, Arsenal will once again look to bounce back when they host Blackpool in the Round of 16 of the English League Cup in a couple of hours time.
The Gunners are coming on the back of a 3-1 win over Brentford in the last round and will be keen on advancing further in the tournament.
Arsenal team news
Laurent Koscielny is slowly recovering from his injury while Konstantinos Mavropanos is ruled out with a groin problem and will return in November. Fullbacks Hector Bellerin, Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac are all doubts and their fitness will be assessed ahead of the game.
Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Blackpool
Defence
Petr Cech will make his much-awaited return in goal, after facing a spell on the sidelines. He needs to perform well with coach Unai Emery seemingly reluctant on guaranteeing him a regular place in the starting lineup.
Stephan Lichtsteiner, as usual in the cup games, will be deployed as the right-back for the Gunners this weekend. On the left side, however, Emery could be forced to start with Ainsley Maitland-Niles with Kolasinac and Monreal both doubtful.
Sokratis Papastathopoulos will be starting in central defence, partnering Rob Holding, who has produced a couple of promising performances this season. It will be interesting to see how the 23-year-old performs against a Blackpool side, who will be playing without any fear.
Midfield
Matteo Guendouzi was one of the bright sparks against Crystal Palace last weekend and as a result, he will once again be given a starting berth at the base of Arsenal’s 4-2-3-1. He’ll be deployed alongside Mohamed Elneny, who certainly needs to perform well if he is to secure a long-term future at the club.
Mesut Ozil is unlikely to be risked especially with an important clash against Liverpool coming up at the weekend. Thus, Unai could deploy youngster Emile Smith-Rowe, who has made quite an impact in Arsenal’s EFL Cup campaign this season. He will be tasked with the responsibility of providing the creative spark in Arsenal’s attack.
Attack
The Arsenal attack will be led by Danny Welbeck, who was excellent against Sporting CP last week, notably scoring the winner late in the second half.
He will be supported by the wide-duo of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi, both of whom have failed to nail down a regular place in the starting lineup this season and will, therefore. be eager to impress against Blackpool.
