Carling Cup Preview: City Visit On Form Arsenal at The Emirates in Quarter-Finals
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November 29, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Roberto Mancini’s side travel to London, Cardiff host Blackburn and Chelsea entertain Liverpool with Crystal Palace playing Manchester United tomorrow.
Arsene Wenger has reminded Roberto Mancini that the task of attempting to win every competition throughout the season can take its toll ahead of their Carling Cup clash at The Emirates.
“You have to go through the whole winter when you play in the Champions League. We did that,” said Wenger.
The London club’s defeat in last year’s Carling Cup final to Birmingham City saw the first loss in a run which ruled them out of contention for every competition in which they had a chance of winning.
The Arsenal manager may choose to rest his first team players for tonight’s fixture with league leaders City, handing rare starts to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Park Chu-Young.
Wenger has hinted he will leave out Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott, Aaron Ramsey and Abou Diaby – all suspected to be suffering from minor injuries or fatigue.
Mancini will be without Mario Balotelli and Gareth Barry, who are unavailable through suspension, but can call on the services of Owen Hargreaves once again with the midfielder returning from a calf injury.
Centre halves Kolo Toure and Stefan Savic could also feature should the Italian choose to rest either of his usual starting pair – Joleon Lescott or Vincent Kompany.
Manchester City have not won away to Arsenal since the season in which City won the League Cup in 1976.
In another of the quarter final ties, Cardiff City play host to Steve Kean’s struggling Blackburn Rovers at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Malky Mackay will have a fully fit squad to base his selection on should Mark Hudson and Rudy Gestede respond well to today’s training sessions, both recently suffering from hamstring injuries.
Following Cardiff’s 1-0 win against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, the Welsh club are on an eight-match unbeaten run coming into the game with the Premier League’s bottom side.
Steve Kean, meanwhile, will be able to recall David Dunn after his suspension and Michel Salgado after a hamstring injury. Christopher Samba, Martin Olsson and Ryan Nelsen are all expected to be unavailable for selection through injury.
The Bluebirds are enjoying their best League Cup run since the 1965/66 season which saw them reach the semi-finals. By contrast, Rovers make their fourth semi-final appearance since 2002 – the year they won the cup with a 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur.
The other match tonight sees Chelsea welcome Liverpool to Stamford Bridge hoping for better fortunes than they experienced in their recent league encounter, in which Glen Johnson’s goal secured a valuable 2-1 away win for Kenny Dalglish’s side.
Andre Villas-Boas will be without club captain John Terry following his controversial sending off against Wolves on the weekend. Fernando Torres could start against his former club but Raul Meireles is unavailable for selection with the Portuguese cup-tied.
Dalglish is expected to hand starts to Jamie Carragher and Andy Carroll, with Craig Bellamy available for selection after missing Saturday’s fixture on compassionate grounds.
Chelsea have been victorious in the last two League Cup meetings between the two sides; however, Kenny Dalglish has not lost to Chelsea in his last 12 games as Liverpool manager.
Dalglish has recently criticised the scheduling of the fixture, with it being so soon after Liverpool’s draw with Manchester City on the weekend. Lucas Leiva echoed his manager’s frustration:
“As the manager has said, it’s a bit unfair that we have so little time between the two games,” the Brazilian midfielder told The Liverpool Echo.
“No-one will be fresh for the Chelsea game, that’s for sure, but we will do our best to get ready for it.
“We have a very good staff and they will do everything they can to ensure we are at 100% for the next game.”
In the last of the quarter final ties, Manchester United play the cup’s second remaining non-Premier League club Crystal Palace at Old Trafford tomorrow evening.
Sir Alex Ferguson has said there will be “a complete change” from the side that drew to Newcastle on Saturday.
Youngsters Zeki Fryers, Federico Macheda, Ravel Morrison and Paul Pogba are set to play, while Chris Smalling could return from injury.
Crystal Palace manager Dougie Freedman is set to name Darren Ambrose in the line-up but will be without Jonathan Williams, Lee Hills and Alex Marrow through injury.
Manchester United are tipped for victory but Freedman believes the fixture represents a valuable step for his squad.
“It’s a chance for them to enjoy the atmosphere of a Premier League ground in a big cup match,” the Scot told BBC Sport.
“Hopefully we’ll be playing week in week out in those kinds of stadia very soon.”
By James Coggins
[Image courtesy of fakelivis]