Arsene Wenger has kept to his policy of playing his second (or third) string Arsenal
side in the League Cup, and so I am not in the slightest bit surprised that he has named this XI tonight.
City saw off their Champions League away tie against Basel with rather ease and they are well clear at the top of the table in premier league so we expect Guardiola to start with a full strength
side in the league cup final.
Crystal Palace won the last meeting between these two
sides in the League Cup in November 2011, winning 2 - 1 after Extra-time during the Fifth Round of the League Cup
Not exact matches
The player has only made two appearances for Antonio Conte's
side so far this season, with one coming
in the Premier
League 2, with the other coming
in the EFL
Cup for the Blues» U23
side.
That would seem to indicate that he is not intending to take the Europa
League too seriously, and judging by the amount of changes to the starting line - up he intends to make tonight it will look like one of his
League Cup sides, but Wenger is still pretending that he wants to win it but admits his disappointment at not being
in the major event.
Arsene made ten changes to the Arsenal team on Wednesday when they faced a good Southampton
side in the Quarter - Final of the
League Cup.
There could be hope of making an appearance
in the FA
Cup fourth round, but should Southampton overcome Norwich to take us on, we may look to play a near - full strength
side (especially as the Saints knocked us out of the
League Cup this term).
As I'm sure most of you will be aware, Arsenal have been drawn against National
League side Sutton United
in the 5th round of the FA
Cup.
Even though Arsene Wenger put out a fairly strong Arsenal
side for the trip to lower
league Preston North End
in the FA
cup, it may have been stronger with the addition of some regular first team players like Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil.
Mexican
side Cruz Azul (2014 CONCACAF Champions
League winners) and Argentine
side San Lorenzo (2014 Copa Libertadores winners) both found out their possible route to glory as the draw was made for December's Club World
Cup in Morocco.
Rooney's
side take on Conference
side Cambridge United
in their FA
Cup fourth round replay on Tuesday night, a match the Premier
League side would expect to win at a canter, and the England international hopes that he can then lead Man United to Wembley
in May.
A couple of months into the new season, and nothing seems to have changed from recent seasons for the North Londoners who have already been knocked out of the Capital One
Cup by a youthful Southampton
side, languishing at 8th position
in the Premier
League table, and have won 1 of their 2 Champions
League fixtures.
League one
side Rochdale hosted Tottenham at Spotland
in the fifth round of the FA
Cup.
April 18th: at Wembley vs Reading
in the FA
Cup Arsenal's FA
Cup semifinal opponents are languishing
in 19th place
in the Championship and you have to think that the currently 3rd placed Premier
League side might prove too strong for their lowly opponents.
The two non-
league sides were due to take each other on
in their domestic
league competition this weekend, only for it to be postponed by the pair reaching the unlikely heights of the FA
Cup fifth round, and should an unlikely giant killing occur on Monday, they will earn the chance to take each other on for a place at Wembley.
The experienced World
Cup winner has featured
in all seven of Man United's Premier
League fixtures this term and though the 30 - year - old has a lot to offer van Gaal as the Dutch manager looks to fight on multiple fronts and the having won the Champions
League in 2013 and when questioned as to whether his
side could win the showpiece trophy Schweinsteiger stated;
Kenny Dalglish's team have already won their first trophy
in six years, by beating Championship
side Cardiff on penalties
in the
League Cup final.
I would prefer wenger say right I'm giving cech the biggest games,
cup finals, EPL games against the top half of the
league and games
in the champions
league against the best 2
sides.
Ainsley has been an ever - present
in our Europa
League and Carabao
Cup sides, and has now started twice for the first team, although for some reason Wenger keeps playing him
in different positions for him to learn his trade.
What is certain now though is that he will need a positive reaction from his players as after plotting a way to navigate past Swansea City
in the
League Cup in midweek, Man Utd host an
in - form Tottenham
side this weekend who will ruthlessly expose their issues if the visitors aren't
in their best form.
Wilshere has impressed when given the chance to feature for our
side, mostly
in the Europa
League and Carabao
Cup thus far.
Three of those trophies came all at once
in the 2000 - 01 campaign when the Merseyside outfit clinched a unique treble consisting of a domestic
League and FA
Cup double, while they triumphed over Spanish
side Alaves
in a dramatic UEFA
Cup final.
That's the benefit of having a squad where you can boast having two players for each position, a standard for any top
side (which make a mockery of Jose Mourinho's and Pep Guardiola's recent complaints about the
League Cup getting
in the way).
Arsenal have the bad luck to have to face the Champions - elect Man City just four days after being embarrassed
in the
League Cup final by Pep Guardiola's
side, but Arsene Wenger is very hopeful that his team can pick themselves up to try and get revenge at the Emirates, where the Gunners have only lost one
League game all season.
The Gunners lost to Nottingham Forest at the weekend to give up their chance to win a fourth FA
Cup in only five seasons, losing 4 - 2 to the lower
league side.
The 21 - year - old is a left - back who has been on loan at various lower division
sides since making his Red Devils debut
in their
League Cup loss to MK Dons back
in August.
Then
in the summer Alexandre Lacazette was brought
in and Oli was pushed into our Europa
League and Caraboa
Cup sides and saw his chances of going to the World
Cup with France receding into the distance.
A Champions
League winner with both Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, and a World
Cup winner with Germany, Kroos would being plenty of quality and experience to a United
side that has missed out on the biggest trophies
in recent times.
Van Gaal has opted to use the 3 -5-2 system that was so effectively employed by his Netherlands
side at the World
Cup since he took over at Old Trafford, with Red Devils stars Daley Blind and Robin Van Persie thriving particularly
in the 5 - 1 victory over Spain, but it has not been quite as effective
in the Premier
League and United's best winning run this season actually came
in the midst of a brief switch to a 4 -4-2 diamond system.
However, it was for Bayern that the versatile defender really shone, with Lahm leading his club
side to an historic Treble of
league,
cup and European Cup that had never before been achieved in Germa
cup and European
Cup that had never before been achieved in Germa
Cup that had never before been achieved
in Germany.
Ferguson, whose
side host Norwich on Saturday, is eyeing up his second treble, winning the Premier
League, FA
Cup and Champions
League in the same season, and has called on his players to stand up and be counted as the pressure mounts over the final weeks of the season.
In 1967 these two sides met in Lisbon to slug it out for the European Cup in what would go on to be Celtic's first triumph away from their domestic leagu
In 1967 these two
sides met
in Lisbon to slug it out for the European Cup in what would go on to be Celtic's first triumph away from their domestic leagu
in Lisbon to slug it out for the European
Cup in what would go on to be Celtic's first triumph away from their domestic leagu
in what would go on to be Celtic's first triumph away from their domestic
league.
Liverpool's Philippe Coutinho, 22, says he wants to put his friendships with fellow Brazilians Oscar, Willian, Felipe Luis and Ramires to one
side as the Reds prepare to take on Chelsea
in the
League Cup semi-final --(Liverpool Echo)
Since the player's arrival
in 2013, Zidane's
side have managed to win three Champions
League titles, one La Liga title, one Spanish Super
Cup and one Copa Del Rey, as well as three UEFA Super Cups and three Club World Cups.
Having fallen just short
in the Portuguese
league and Cup as well as the Europa League 12 months ago, Jorge Jesus» side are still on course to win all three competitions this time a
league and
Cup as well as the Europa
League 12 months ago, Jorge Jesus» side are still on course to win all three competitions this time a
League 12 months ago, Jorge Jesus»
side are still on course to win all three competitions this time around.
Chelsea are ready to make their offer now and will look to complete a deal before the 2014 World
Cup finals though the La Liga
side may hope to spark a bidding war for the
in - form marksman, who has scored 27 goals
in domestic
league action alone this term.
After all, he had just masterminded the double by leading his
side to Premier
League and Capital One
Cup glory
in the previous campaign.
Only one
side has ever won both the English FA
Cup and Champions
League / European
Cup in the same season: Manchester United
in 1998/99.
After losing to Manchester City
in the Carabao
Cup final last weekend, the Gunners slipped to another 3 - 0 defeat at the hands of Pep Guardiola's
side in the Premier
League on Thursday night.
Hull City's push to bring
in new additions could well have been aided by the fact that the KC Stadium
side will be competing
in the Europa
League in 2014/15 following their run to the FA
Cup final last term.
They were also dumped out of the FA
Cup by Championship
side Leeds, and then drew a third
league game
in a row with a 1 - 1 at Norwich.
We now only have Premier
League leaders Chelsea standing
in our way of lifting the FA
Cup trophy, and Ramsey has moved to praise his
side, although
in a defensive manner.
My team were never challenging for the Premier
League title when I began to follow them, and the joy I would experience when they would reach an unlikely
cup final was immense, so I'm sorry if I don't feel any remorse for a fan who only followed a team when they were one of only two top
sides challenging year on year, before enjoying an unbeatable Invincibles campaign
in only his third term of supporting the
side.
Mlssoccer.com reports that Keane wants to win a fourth MLS
Cup and also wants to try and help LA Galaxy become the first American
side to win the CONCACAF Champions
League — a competition that's been won by a Mexican
side for the last nine seasons since Saprissa from Costa Rica won it
in 2005.
The youngster is yet to make the squad for their Under - 18
side, due to his commitments to the senior
side and the Under - 23
sides instead, and after impressing and scoring against Chelsea Under - 23, was given a full 90 minutes of senior football as the Black Cats defeated Shrewsbury Town
in the
League Cup.
The results now means that Pochettino's
side are set to face Rochdale
in the next round of the FA
Cup, as the Premier
League side look to win their first silverware since the
League Cup in 2008.
He and Ainsley Maitland - Niles have been playing as makeshift wing - backs
in the Europa
League and
League cup this term, while Nelson has been impressing
in a much more advanced role within the youth
sides.
Despite enduring his fair share of criticism over his new
side's playing style, Louis van Gaal had inspired United to third place
in the Premier
League and the quarter - finals of the FA
Cup, with a Capital One
Cup humbling at MK Dons the only major blot on his copy book.
Pep Guardiola doesn't exactly look
in desperate need for new players after his
side's remarkable season so far, with the Sky Blues 12 points clear at the top of the Premier
League and booking a date
in next month's Carabao
Cup final with Arsenal.
That was five years ago and surprisingly he has never appeared for the Gunners senior
side, not even
in the
League Cup.