Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger shouts from the sidelines during his team’s English Premier League match against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, London, on Saturday.
LONDON: Arsenal, who suffered a humiliating League Cup quarter-final defeat by fourth tier Bradford City last season, will again rotate their squad when Chelsea visit the Emirates in the last-16 today.
Manager Arsene Wenger has used the competition in recent years to blood youngsters and field fringe players and did so when a second-string side edged out West Bromwich Albion in a penalty shootout in the third round.
“I will rotate against Chelsea but play with a team that has a good chance to qualify as well. That will be the target,” Wenger told the club’s website (www.arsenal.com).
Arsenal have not won the trophy since 1993 when they beat Sheffield Wednesday. They lost to Chelsea in the 2007 final and to Birmingham City at the same stage four years later.
Adding spice to the tie is the Premier League positions of the two clubs, with Arsenal two points clear of their London rivals at the top of the table.
Wenger’s team have a tough sequence of games coming up that will test their credentials as title contenders.
Arsenal host third-placed Liverpool in the Premier League on Saturday and then, after travelling to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, they take on Manchester United at Old Trafford. “You worry about fatigue a little bit but not too much. Sometimes when you play every three days you look tired and then in three days you are flying again. It goes a bit in cycles,” Wenger said.
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho insists he has been left with no choice but to send out an under-strength Chelsea team in Tuesday’s League Cup fourth round clash at Arsenal.
Mourinho is fuming that League Cup fixture planners decided to schedule Chelsea’s trip to the Emirates Stadium just 48 hours after his side’s 2-1 win over Manchester City in the Premier League.
The Blues boss claims Arsenal have been given an unfair advantage because they played at Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime, giving them extra time to recover before the London derby.
Mourinho’s complaints ignore the fact that Gunners manager Wenger routinely fields shadow squads made up of fringe players and youngsters in the League Cup, but that didn’t stop the Portuguese coach letting rip when asked if he would field a strong team for the last 16 tie.
“We are going to give the game that the people that put the game on Tuesday want. If they want a big game, we cannot give the big game,” Mourinho said.
“If they want the players that were playing today (Sunday), we cannot give them that. If they want Arsenal to win a trophy, that’s a help.
“If they want a big game between two big teams in London, they should put the game on Wednesday and not on Tuesday, because I am not going to do that.”
Mourinho claimed that, out of respect for Chelsea’s fans, he would stop short of sending out a starting line-up made up entirely of youth team players.
But he has no intention of putting his key stars under what he believes is unfair duress.
“It’s not the plan because we have to respect also our fans. We discussed that in the club. We have to protect our players,” he said.
“We cannot put our players in two matches in the space of three days. Arsenal played Saturday at 12:30, so two and a half days to rest and to prepare. So I hope they all enjoy.”
There are four other all-Premier League clashes.
Manchester United, who came back from 2-1 down to beat Stoke City 3-2 on Saturday, should prove too strong for struggling Norwich City at Old Trafford today.
Tomorrow, Newcastle United entertain Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur host Hull City again, three days after a 1-0 league victory for the Londoners at White Hart Lane.
Southampton also travel to Sunderland on November 6.
Championship leaders Burnley will fancy their chances of causing an upset when they host West Ham United today.
Burnley, who spent one season in the Premier League in 2009-10, have won eight and drawn one of their last nine league games and manager Sean Dyche said Saturday’s home victory over promotion rivals Queens Park Rangers was their best performance so far.
Two other second-tier sides welcome Premier League opposition.
Surprise 2011 winners Birmingham, who stunned Arsenal at Wembley with a late Obafemi Martins winner, entertain Stoke while Leicester City, who won the trophy in 1997 and 2000, take on Fulham.
Agencies
