{"id":4434,"date":"2021-12-20T19:27:16","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T19:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4434"},"modified":"2021-12-21T22:39:30","modified_gmt":"2021-12-21T22:39:30","slug":"arsenal-v-sunderland-carabao-cup-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/?p=4434","title":{"rendered":"Arsenal v. Sunderland: Carabao Cup quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Assuming the threat of a Covid-19 postponement does not rear its ugly head prior to kickoff \u2026 few fixtures can figure to be more fun than a festive home cup tie against lower league foes.  Unless Arsenal *uck it up of course.  We don\u2019t often get to play League One teams so that novelty in itself should infuse a shot of adrenaline into the occasion. But Sunderland\u2019s traveling supporters will most likely shout themselves silly even prior to kickoff, so the home fans will be needed to voice their support loudly and proudly as indeed they have done increasingly so far this season, especially in this competition where the crowd tends to be especially young and enthusiastic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal reached the last eight by beating West Bromwich Albion, AFC Wimbledon and Leeds United, and in the process scoring an impressive 11 goals without conceding any.  The players will try to match or better their previous performances in this run, despite the unfortunate circumstance that goal difference in this competition does not also count in the Premier League table.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

As of last February Sunderland\u2019s new regime is under the direction of chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, a member of the star-studded French aristocratic family of that surname (https:\/\/en.m.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Louis-Dreyfus#Surname<\/a>).  In his few months in charge KLD\u2019s wad of cash has not yet managed to propel the Black Cats skyward in the football pyramid as their history seems to demand, but the Louis-Dreyfus wealth seems to have instilled renewed hope at the long foundering club.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sunderland won two F.A. Cups (1937 and 1973), and six First Division titles prior to the second world war.  Unfortunately for the Wearside gents, their mastery has been on the wane ever since, and their last serious shot at silverware came eight years ago when they lost the League Cup final to Manchester City.  They were most recently relegated from the Premier League in 2016-17, their last of 10 consecutive top flight seasons.  The next year they were relegated again to League One where the Black Cats have finished 5th, 8th, and 4th so far, and twice failed to win promotion through the playoffs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday\u2019s 1-1 draw at Ipswich helped Sunderland remain in third spot in the league after 22 matches played, so they will have promotion on their minds; but they do not have another league fixture until Monday away at Doncaster so should have all their attention focused on going to the races against the Gunners.  Sunderland reached the quarter-final round by defeating Blackpool, Wigan and Queen\u2019s Park Rangers.  I don\u2019t know anything about the current Sunderland side but minimal research revealed that 25 year-old Scotsman Ross Stewart has led their attack with 10 goals.  Manager Lee Johnson has promised that his side will offer a \u201cblood and guts\u201d performance so Arsenal might do well to conjure the mindset needed to play away at Burnley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal XI<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recent reports suggest that Pablo Mari and Sambi Lokonga may miss the game due to Covid issues, and Mikel Arteta is expected to give a few of his regulars a breather considering fixture congestion.  Of course he will keep a few other regulars in the team to maintain continuity, and hopefully to assure that the quality of the team is good enough to advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Against Leeds in the previous round in late October, Calum Chambers, who had not kicked a competitive ball (in anger or otherwise) for nearly two months, and has been nearly invisible ever since, headed the match winner with his first touch as a substitute, and Eddie Nketiah made sure of the win by intercepting a back pass and tapping home.  Will Arteta reward Calum and Eddie by starting them against the Black Cats?  It\u2019s possible if not likely, so I am randomly saying Eddie will start but Calum remain on the bench.  In the last round Mikel Arteta retained only two starters from the side he picked to start the previous league game, so it\u2019s a bit unpredictable really.  I do expect him to pick a strong eleven with a blend of regular starters and regular benchwarmers, such as:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Cedric  Holding  Gabriel  Tierney<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AMN  Chaka<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saka  Odegaard  Pepe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nketiah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u2018holics pound<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ladbrokes is offering a measly 2\/11 odds on an Arsenal win so their experts are pretty optimistic about the Gunners\u2019 chances.  If you want to make it a bit more sporting bet you might consider laying down some of your hard earned cash on Calum Chambers coming off the bench to score the winner for the second straight round, but I\u2019m not sure it would be the wisest bet you ever made.  If I were actually a betting man I might put a tentative fiver on 4-1 to the Arsenal, so there\u2019s the tip you\u2019ve been scouring this article to find.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This will probably be the last of our relatively easy passes into the later rounds so you will be excused if you let go after the game (as you sip your malts) with a round of \u201cWe\u2019re gonna win the Cup!\u201d  Not to expect anyone to jeopardize their dignity, of course.  Enjoy, \u2018holics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Assuming the threat of a Covid-19 postponement does not rear its ugly head prior to kickoff \u2026 few fixtures can figure to be more fun than a festive home cup tie against lower league foes.  Unless Arsenal *uck it up of course.  We don\u2019t often get to play League One teams so that novelty in itself should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4434"}],"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\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4434"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4434\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4458,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4434\/revisions\/4458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goonerholicsforever.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}