By Moshood Isah
The Third round of the Carabao cup kicks off tonight with holders, Manchester United traveling to London to face a daunting challenge against Crystal Palace amongst other interesting pictures. This round hosts 16 fixtures which include Premier league ties with Everton hosting Villa while struggling Chelsea face in-form Brighton.
Manchester United Coach, Erik Ten Hag continues to battle with injuries to key players like Lisandro Martinez, Mason Mount, Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, while Jadon Sancho and Anthony continue to be out due to disciplinary and legal issues respectively.
Speaking during his pre match conference, United Manager Erik Ten Hag said the Carabao cup was an important competition for last season and that has not changed this year. “We want to win so we can reach the fourth round, of course, but it is also important for us to build on the positive performance and result we earned at Burnley on Saturday evening,” Erik added.
Meanwhile Arsenal coach, Mikel Arteta will be without at least five first team players as the team go into a busy period with games coming as frequent as every 72 hours. The Gunners commence their Carabao Cup campaign at the Gtech Community Stadium, where they face Brentford at 7.45pm in the third round on Wednesday night. Arsenal are without their big money signing Declan Rice after sustaining an injury during the North London Derby against Tottenham on Sunday. Other Notable absentees include influential midfielder Thomas Partey who has been out for about a month, Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and long term absentee, Jurrien Timber.
On Rice, Arteta during his prematch conference said, “Declan hasn’t trained yet. Obviously he could not carry on in the game, he wasn’t comfortable at all. He’s still uncomfortable, obviously he had to leave the pitch and that’s never a good sign for a player like him, but hopefully he will progress in the next few days. It’s a tough one.”
He also said Leandro Trossard won’t be available for the Carabao cup visit to Brentford saying, “Let’s see day by day how he improves and whether he’s got a chance for the weekend or not”. Mikel also confirmed that the Brentford game came too quickly for Gabriel Martinelli, who came off in the 24th minute of our 1-0 win at Everton earlier in the month.
“It’s the situation that we have at the moment,” he said. “We have to adapt. The squad that we have at the moment is really short and we need players back, that’s for sure.”, he said
Arsenal are yet to win the tournament traditionally known as the league cup for over 2 decades and Brenford presents a very stern test for the Gunners who will definitely not be a stroll in the park.
Perennial winners of the Carabao Cup, Manchester City will face arguably the most difficult test as they travel to face New Castle at St James Park without their influential Talisman, Kevin DeBrunye. Midfield colossus Rodrigo is also out due to suspension after receiving a straight red card against Nottingham Forest during the weekend.
According to city coach, Pep Guardiola, “Rodri has been really important, his consistency, he knows everything, the game like what happened against Forest”. Guardiola will however welcome back Jack Grealish and Matteo Kovacic back to the fold. He said, “Jack is much better, Mateo as well,”. “I don’t know how many minutes, from the beginning or second half, but they’re going to play minutes, yeah.”
City last faced Newcastle in the League Cup back in October 2014, where the Magpies claimed a win at the Etihad Stadium.
Beyond struggling to win games this season, Chelsea also have their own shares of injury worries with the likes of Christoper Nkunku and Wesley Fofana both long term absentees. Benoit Badiashile, Reece James and new signing Romeo Lavia all on the treatment table. Others on the ever growing Chelsea injury list include Noni Madueke, Carney Chukwuemeka and Trevoh Chalobah while Malo Gusto is suspended after receiving a marching order during the defeat to Aston Villa. READ ALSO:
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Speaking during his pre match conference, Chelsea Coach Mauricio Pochettino said, “Of course, after the defeat on Sunday, maybe the feelings are not the best, so I think it’s an opportunity to move on, to give the players confidence and trust.
‘It’s a different competition and we need to change our mood and everything. Yesterday and today we were talking a lot and we were trying to bring more confidence to the team, but we are going to be ready tomorrow.’, he said
Having already lost 3 in 6 Premier League games this season, Chelsea face a prospect of early elimination from the Carabao cup in the hands of high flying Brighton.
