Arsenal will travel to Deepdale Stadium to take on Preston North End in an EFL Cup clash this evening.
Mikel Arteta will view this competition as a real opportunity for Arsenal to get their hands on some silverware and will be taking this game seriously.
However, the Spanish coach will also view this fixture as an opportunity to rotate his team and afford minutes to some fringe players. The likes of Jorginho, Gabriel Jesus, Raheem Sterling, and Oleksandr Zinchenko will all be expecting to be involved against the Championship outfit.
Hale End academy gems Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly are also likely to start this match. Arsenal fans have urged Arteta to hand more opportunities to the teenage duo, and this game provides an excellent opportunity for them to prove their quality.
Preston North End star planning upset vs Arsenal
Even if Arteta does name a hugely changed team, the Gunners will still be heavy favourites for this game.
However, Preston are still going to give it their all to pull off a giant killing in front of their fans.
Midfielder Brad Potts, speaking to the official Preston North End website, believes that his side can pull off a shock as long as they get their tactics right and take the game to Arsenal.
He said: “I think we’ve been aggressive since the manager’s come in. We’ve been on the front foot pressing teams and I think it’ll be probably no different against Arsenal.
“We’ll want to do that and hopefully cause them problems that way. I feel like they will have good possession but the way we’re set up gives us a good chance to win the ball back. If you sit in it can end up being a long night defending really, but I’m sure we’ll try and have a go.”
Why Arsenal must be wary
Cup clashes have a habit of throwing up shock results, and whilst Arsenal won’t consider the EFL Cup to be the most important competition they are competing in this season, Arteta will still be desperate to avoid an embarrassing exit.
Such a result would be damaging to confidence at Arsenal, and fixtures in this tournament also give the manager a valuable opportunity to offer minutes to his players who have been less involved in the Premier League and Champions League but still need to stay sharp.
Therefore, the Gunners need to be focused and professional at Deepdale. There will be plenty of players keen to impress these evening too. Jorginho needs a strong showing, as does Zinchenko, having seemingly now fallen behind Lewis-Skelly in the pecking order after the 17-year-old was brought on against Liverpool last time out ahead of the Ukrainian.
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