Selection decisions/dilemmas ahead of Bolton in the League Cup

Morning.

It’s fair to say Mikel Arteta has some decisions to make ahead of tonight’s Carabao Cup game against Bolton. Even without the injury issues, a core group of players got us through most of an incredibly gruelling week with three away games, and he’d have to consider making changes just to give some of them a rest.

Speaking at his press conference yesterday, he referenced a few more problems in the wake of that Herculean effort against Man City, so tonight’s team will certainly be an interesting one. Let’s start with goalkeeper, and David Raya is a doubt after being seen limping after Sunday’s game. New signing Neto is cup-tied, having played in the last round for Bournemouth before making the switch to replace Aaron Ramsdale, and with some injury issues even at youth level, the next man up could be 16 year old Jack Porter.

He was with the squad for our trip to Atalanta last week, but could be called upon today if Raya isn’t fit enough or, perhaps, not risked. I’d be quite surprised to see a keeper that young start the game, but I guess it all depends on how our number 1 is.

At the back, Jakub Kiwior should come in, and I wonder too if we might see Ayden Heaven at centre-half. Myles Lewis-Skelly played at left-back during pre-season so there’s room for him there, but quite what we do at right-back is up for question. Ben White wasn’t fit enough to start against City, and Jurrien Timber went off late on, so there have to be some doubts there. Could they timeshare the game, or will we see a young player like Josh Nichols get a chance? It would be a very raw back four if that were the case, so the potential inclusion of one of Gabriel/Saliba will be a consideration for Arteta, I’m sure – if he has to do without White/Timber who could both play centre-half if available.

I think we’re all ready to see Ethan Nwaneri start in midfield, most likely with Jorginho and Declan Rice behind him, while up front I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Bukayo Saka start after just 45 minutes on Sunday. Raheem Sterling getting his first start on the left, and then Gabriel Jesus up front would round out that front three.

Arteta was interesting on the two 17 year olds, Nwaneri and Lewis-Skelly, talking about how demanding they are (in a good way):

Those two are really pushy, really demanding. They want everything. They want to see everything. They want more and more information. They love it. You can tell they are so passionate about it. They see the opportunity, and they want to grab it with both hands.

They are great to work with.

The League Cup has traditionally been a competition which has seen the club bring through some of the burgeoning Academy talent, so hopefully that is the case this evening. I think it says something about these two players in particular that they’ve had minutes in difficult games like the North London derby and Man City on Sunday. Not so much about their talent and potential itself, but Arteta’s trust in that. He has been cautious – some might say overly so – with regards young players in the past, but three 17 year olds and an 18 year old goalkeeper rounded out our squad this season.

These are the players we have, and these are exactly the kinds of games they should be featuring in. Which isn’t to say we do so at the expense of trying to go further in this competition. Arteta says:

We are here to win, we are here to win the big competitions and the ones people consider not that big. That’s our duty.

It’s a great opportunity for any player to show what they are bringing in the games who haven’t had the ability to play much yet, to transform what they’re doing in training to give us the right reason and perform on the pitch.

The game is on Sky Sports+ in this part of the world, so check if that’s part of your subscription. It should mean there are plenty of streams around though, and as ever we’ll bring you live blog coverage, with all the post-game stuff on Arseblog News.

Catch you later for the game. Come on you reds!