{"id":1393,"date":"2020-09-22T18:10:06","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T17:10:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1393"},"modified":"2020-09-24T06:49:30","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T05:49:30","slug":"dont-lose-that-winning-feeling-and-leicester-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=1393","title":{"rendered":"Don\u2019t Lose That Winning Feeling – And Leicester Away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The\nCarabao Cup has rolled around again and it\u2019s time for the annual discussion of\nshould we take it seriously or just send in the reserves and the kids. We\u2019ve\ndone both without winning it in recent years. In fact it is a trophy that we\nhave only won twice and not lifted in any of its varyingly ridiculous guises\nsince 1993 when we won 2-1 against a Sheffield Weds side led by Viv Anderson,\nonce notably of this parish, in a game that has not stuck in my memory despite\nactually being there. Though I was reminded of it this year when Auba dropped\nthe FA Cup, as that 93 final is the one where another Arsenal captain, a clumsy\nAdams on this occasion, dropped not the cup but the unfortunate winning\ngoal-scorer Morrow breaking his arm. I am not a superstitious man but we have had\nmany years of bad luck in the competition since, still hope springs eternal and\nperhaps we\u2019ll do better on the morrow. The luck of the draw has not been kind\nthis year either; a trip to Anfield is likely if we get past Leicester. However,\nshould we prevail and add carabao to our coke and littlewoods we will be\nrewarded not only with the prestigious Carabao Cup (see above) but also a place\nin the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League, a competition so absurd that it\nmakes Hardaker\u2019s Folly look like serious stuff. The poor relation\u2019s poor\nrelation, think Baldrick\u2019s idiot brother on a bad day and if that is not\nsufficient motivation for the players to get in the Top 4 this season and make\nsuch contemplations superfluous then I just don\u2019t know what is. As you may have\nstarted to suspect I am not a big fan of the League Cup and to be honest see no\nreason it should be played at all this season given the current situation.\nHowever, it is being played, we are in it, and I would very much like us to win\ntomorrow night for the simple reason that it will keep the atmosphere positive\nand confidence high ahead of some difficult PL games to come over the next six\nweeks \u2013 a run of games that I believe will show us exactly where we stand and\nexactly what sort of a season it is going to be and another potential turning\npoint for The Arsenal. It is difficult for me to overstate how much I want us\nto be a force in the league again and if a win at Leicester in the Carabao Cup\nhelps that along then I am all aboard for the ride. Enough of that for now and\nback to what is supposed to be a Leicester vs. The Arsenal Carabao Cup preview.\nWhat is the definitive answer to the tricky question of team selection?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\nwill Mikel select?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t know. Well, what do you expect? It\u2019s a tricky question. But I am being paid the big bucks to have a stab at it so I will moo and be damned with an XI as below:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leno<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Holding – Luiz – Gabriel<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soares – Elneny – Joe W – AMN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pepe – Eddie – Nelson<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am expecting to see Soares, Elneny, Eddie, Joe W and Nelson start but the rest are in all honesty my best guess as indeed is the formation. We could just as easily see a team with several youngsters, Balogun and Saliba spring to mind, but considering the stage of the season and the difficulty of the tie I think Mikel will want to give some of the current squad members more playing time. Whether to play Leno in goal is itself a more difficult decision that it was \u2013 we are one three-week injury away from starting with Macey or Runarsson away at Liverpool and Man City. I believe Mikel will take the risk as Leno would probably appreciate the game time after his injury but it is a risk and one with a significant downside. We need another keeper. In defence, Saliba could easily start as might Papa if they have been training well and Mikel wants to rest Gabriel or Rob. In midfield we have less options as I suspect Torreira may be near the door and only played in an emergency. I also don\u2019t know Kieran\u2019s actual fitness (bone inflammation but I assume that has degrees of severity) and whether we may want further rest or to get him playing for at least part of the game. Do we play Kola and keep AMN, Saka and Kieran back for the weekend game? It\u2019s possible we might want Guen in the shop window – a pure guess that and I have no inside knowledge. I suppose if we play four at the back then a sighting of Ozil is possible but it seems very unlikely at the moment. ESR is out injured. Up front Pepe and Eddie could do with a full game and I have selected Nelson but we may see Saka playing left wing again \u2013 I imagine he\u2019d appreciate it. Balogun as a long shot to encourage him to stay? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who knows but despite my ridicule of the MilkRumbelowsLittlewoodsBanaramaCocaCalpisColaCarabou Cup I will hunt down a channel and tune in tomorrow at 3.45AM to find out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nOpposition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leicester\nhave had a good start to the season with wins against West Brom and Burnley,\nhardly in the class of Fulham and West Ham of course, but nonetheless they have\nput a somewhat miserable run of form at the end of last season behind them and\nsit with six points from 2 games. Like us they have a tricky game coming up at\nthe weekend \u2013 Man City in their case \u2013 and I assume that like us they will play\nvarious squad members. As I believe our squad is better than their squad I\nexpect them to lose. Once Rogers has stopped staring at his ridiculous portrait\nI imagine he will choose some of their older squad members like Fuchs,\nAlbrighton and Morgan for a run as well as a start for Iheanacho in place of\nthe cheaty Vardy. Maddison didn\u2019t start at the weekend so he may play too. Regardless,\nthere should be gaps in quality as well as speed of foot in their defence and\nthat is where we can hurt them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nHolic Pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am anticipating a fairly even game between two teams with plenty of players needing to shake off a little light rusting. As the game wears on I expect Pepe and Nketiah to take the game by the scruff of its scrawny neck and see The Arsenal home to a 2-0 victory. The bookies have us as slight favourites to win outright and 12-1 for a 2-0 win. Seems doable to me as do Leicester, in purely footballing terms I hasten to add. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is about it for this preview, other than to wish an enjoyable game to you all and the best of luck to The Arsenal tomorrow night. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Carabao Cup has rolled around again and it\u2019s time for the annual discussion of should we take it seriously or just send in the reserves and the kids. We\u2019ve done both without winning it in recent years. In fact it is a trophy that we have only won twice and not lifted in any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1393"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1393"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1414,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1393\/revisions\/1414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}