Capital One Cup: Who Would Feature Against Chelsea?

The hard fought victory at Selhurst Park gave every gooner a good weekend and a good start to the week sitting on top of the table irrespective of wins by Liverpool and Chelsea. 2 points ahead and we face Chelsea in the Capital One cup later to night. The gunners overcame Westbrom at the Hawthorns thanks to the lottery of penalties and were given a mouth watery clash against Mourinho’s Blues.

The fixtures are coming like the torrid rains of Port Harcourt and getting all victories over Liverpool, Manchester United in the League and Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League is very vital. I am very optimistic that we could come out of these next 7 fixtures without getting a scratch.

But tonight, we have to see to Mourinho and the Blues. Mourinho’s side seems the strongest in the League with a bench good enough to compete in any competition to win. With names like Schwarzar, Luiz, Essien, Mikel, Ba, Mata et al not making the first team at the Bridge, Jose would surely unleash them against the gunners.

We are playing at the Emirates where we have lost twice this season, our only loss. Who would Wenger feature? The first team? The second-string? Or a mixture of both? Dont be surprise to see the following start against Chelsea:

Starting 11: Lukasz Fabianski, Nacho Monreal, Carl Jenkenson, Thomas Vermaleen, Isaac Hayden, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey, Ryo, Serge Gnabry and Nicklas Bendtner. Bench: Emiliano Viviano, Laurent Koscienly,, Santi Cazorla, Emmanuel Frimpong, Chuba Akpom, Ju-Young Park, Mesut Ozil.

According to Wenger:

on Mathieu Flamini… He has a scan today and then we will get the results as to how long he will be out. It doesn’t look like a bad muscle injury but honestly it’s too early to give you a precise answer. It’s a groin injury.

on Jack Wilshere… Yes, he is OK to play.

on Mikel Arteta… He is suspended for one game, so I will not appeal.

on other injuries…Serge Gnabry has a problem, he got a kick on the ankle. He will be assessed tomorrow. After that we will decide who plays and who doesn’t play. I will decide [on Tuesday]. Eisfeld has a back problem.

on Gedion Zalalem… He is not yet available. He had a knee problem. He is back in full training but he has not played yet. He will play 45 minutes with the under-18 team later this week.

on Emmanuel Frimpong… He is still short of competition. Isaac Hayden will be involved, Ryo and Gnabry if he’s fit.

So Expect to see Bendtner scoring a goal and park getting some game time. Ozil may even feature but I don’t reside in Wenger’s Brains. Expect the worst but I expect a tight victory.

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