Arsenal on Wednesday will take on Chelsea in the return leg of the Carabao cup. The winner takes on Manchester City who are already in the finals.
Arsene Wenger who has not taken the tournament seriously has has reasons to actually go in with all hands on deck to make sure he wins the cup
86 first-team debuts in the League Cup has been handed out by Arsene Wenger during his time as the boss in Arsenal. It started with Alex Manninger, Matthew Upson, Alberto Mendez and Paolo Vernazza in a third-round win over Birmingham City in October 1997. It continued with academy graduates Josh Dasilva, Joe Wilock, Matt Macey and Ben Sheaf this season.
Wenger’s League Cup selection policy has launched some fantastic careers, with Ashley Cole, Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin the most notable names among the 86, but it also reflects a level of indifference towards the competition. Wenger has always seen the League Cup as little more than an inconvenience; an inconsequential trophy which clogs up the fixture list.
This season, however, it has taken on new significance. Wenger persisted with his rotation policy up until Arsenal’s quarter-final with West Ham, but there was a different feel to the side which faced Chelsea in the first leg of the semi-final. Alexis Sanchez was left on the bench amid speculation over his future and Petr Cech was rested for David Ospina, but otherwise the team was at full-strength.
Having come away from Stamford Bridge with a goalless draw, Wenger’s selection will be similarly strong at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. Sanchez is gone and his replacement Henrikh Mkhitaryan is cup-tied, but Mesut Ozil will come back into the team and so too might the previously injured Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and Aaron Ramsey.
The circumstances dictate that Arsenal can ill-afford to gamble. Wenger has never won the League Cup and only reached the final twice in his 19 full seasons in charge, but a failure to treat Wednesday’s game as a priority would be difficult for disillusioned supporters to stomach.
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