Arsenal breezed past Bolton earlier this evening in the third round of the Carabao Cup and have been rewarded with a fourth-round tie away at Preston.
It appears that Mikel Arteta is taking the Carabao Cup seriously this year. Although he made several changes against Bolton, he also fielded some of his top players, including Declan Rice and Bukayo Saka.
Below is the complete Fourth Round draw, and as you can see, there are a few exciting matchups.
Brentford vs. Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton vs. Stoke City
Tottenham vs. Manchester City
AFC Wimbledon/Newcastle United vs. Chelsea
Manchester United vs. Leicester City
Brighton vs. Liverpool
Preston North End vs. Arsenal
Aston Villa vs. Crystal Palace
The Carabao Cup, or League Cup as it’s sometimes called, has historically not been one of Arsenal’s strongest competitions. They have won it just twice, with their last triumph coming back in 1993.
However, this season could be their third time lucky, though much will depend on factors like the draw, injuries, and fixture congestion, all of which can have a significant impact.
Let us know in the comments what you think about the draw!
Very much a second string started but what a win to emphasise what is lurking behind the big guns.
Another chance to get a game against Preston which is excellent. These youngsters need to have more playing time and with every game their chances of getting the bigger matches improves
COYG
Agree Sue, I enjoy watching games like these. But It was also a second string Bolton, just to put it in context. Don’t know (as alluded in the article) that Arteta is taking this comp seriously this year. If playing youngsters is taking it seriously, then thats a strange statement. Arteta has always been previously reluctant to play youngsters and played older second string and first team mix. It is good to see but his hands were tied, into what he could do. Will/would they play when Odergaard, Merino, Raya, Tomiasu, Zinchenko and Tierney fit?
That’s an easy fixture for us. Winning it will mean we are just three more rounds away from a trophy. We can revert to the first 11 should we get the likes of Man City or Liverpool
Another reasonable draw, although sometimes those are the ones you’ve got to be careful about. Hopefully, some of the other big boys will continue to knock each other out as the competition progresses.
I suspect we probably need to keep away from the likes of Liverpool for as long as possible. They crushed West Ham yesterday and are not only the holders but the specialists in this competition with a massive ten wins.
In order to win the Cup, we will have to beat the best, the likes of Liverpool.
In the end, probably (it depends how the other results go), but it does no harm to keep way from them for as long as possible.
Arsenal’s record in this cup is pretty poor against some of “the best” and some of “the average” teams over the years which is one reason why we haven’t won it for over 30 years.
A good draw for Arsenal although we cannot take Preston lightly, they knocked out Fulham in the third round. I think Arteta is serious about the League Cup and rightly so, it gives Arsenal a chance of winning silverware. In all likelihood he will put out a team with a mix of youth and experience and go for a win.
Preston shouldn’t be problems to overcome at this stage and I want to believe every cup contested for this season should be treated winnable. It’s going to be interesting seeing my young gunners have more games to their feet once again.
Arteta needs to start bring trophies starting this season.