Arsenal cruised past Brighton on Wednesday night at the Emirates to set up a Carabao Cup quarter-final tie with Crystal Palace.
The Gunners’ spectacular start to the new season continued as they scored two second-half goals to beat Fabian Hurzeler’s men.
Ethan Nwaneri neatly slotted past Jason Steele shortly after the break, before Bukayo Saka doubled the North Londoners’ advantage late on.
Mikel Arteta’s side have now won 12 of their 14 matches in all competitions this season, conceding just three goals in the process, and they now have a quarter-final to look forward to.
However, many Arsenal fans have made a specific request to the Spaniard regarding the clash with Palace in the next round.
Some Arsenal fans want Mikel Arteta to ‘throw’ the Crystal Palace tie
Last season, Arsenal’s Carabao Cup journey came to an end at the semi-final stage, as they were beaten by Newcastle over two legs.
The Gunners fielded a full strength side in both games against the Magpies, at a time where their squad was stretched because of injuries, while both legs also came in the midst of a congested fixture schedule.
These matches arguably cost Arteta’s team points in the league as they had to use key players against high quality opposition at the latter stages of a competition.
If they beat Palace in the quarter-final this term, a similar scenario could materialise. One of Newcastle, Chelsea and Manchester City are likely to await in another two-legged semi-final, which would take place amidst league games against Liverpool and Manchester United.
For this reason, many fans are calling on Arteta to deliberately ‘throw’ the game against Palace by deploying a team full of squad or academy players.
One fan wrote on X: “Can’t have two semis against City or Newcastle. Throw the Palace game and bow out graciously.”
Another fan agreed that the same rotated team that beat Brighton should simply be used for the entire competition: “I’d let this same squad just take it as far as they can.”
Arsenal have the squad depth to win the Carabao Cup
While some Arsenal fans are desperate not to see their title charge damaged by fixture congestion as a result of Carabao Cup progression, others believe they now have the squad to compete on four fronts.
The more optimistic fans are probably correct with their outlook. Andrea Berta spent £250 million in the summer for a reason – to provide Arteta with a squad that is capable of going all the way in multiple competitions.
While Arteta shouldn’t take unnecessary risks with players for the sake of winning the Carabao Cup, he shouldn’t have to.
The Gunners were missing the likes of William Saliba, Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus on Wednesday, all of whom could play against Palace.
The depth should be at a level where Arteta can make seven or eight changes for a semi-final against good opposition, and still have an extremely strong and capable team on the pitch.
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