Venue: Emirates Stadium Date: Tuesday, October 29 Kick-Off: 19:45 Can Chelsea earn another victory over a main rival as their marathon run of fixtures continues against Arsenal in the Capital One Cup tonight?
Team News
Arsenal will be without midfield duo Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini for the visit of Chelsea in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup. Arteta is suspended after being sent off against Newcastle at the weekend while Flamini has a groin injury. Serge Gnarby faces a late fitness test on an ankle problem, but Jack Wilshere is available. Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has already admitted he will rotate his squad for their second fixture in the space of just three days. Juan Mata, Kevin De Bruyne, Michael Essien, Demba Ba and Mark Schwarzer are all likely to feature. (BBC)
Key Stats
Arsenal have won nine of their last 10 home League Cup ties, scoring 29 times. Chelsea have won their last three League Cup games against the Gunners, including victory in the 2007 final. The Blues have lost only four of their last 23 meetings with Arsenal in all competitions (W13, D6, L4). Defeat would mean Arsenal suffer back-to-back home defeats (in all competitions) for the first time since February 2013, when Blackburn and then Bayern Munich won at the Emirates.
Likely Line-Ups
Arsenal Fabianski, Monreal, Vermaelen, Mertesacker, Gibbs, Hayden, Wilshere, Rosicky, Gnarby, Miyachi, Bendtner Chelsea Schwarzer, Bertrand, Luiz, Cahill, Azpilicueta, Essien, Mikel, Willian, Mata, De Bruyne, Ba
Match Preview
League Cup ties in late October don't usually tend to get the pulses racing, but when Arsenal and Chelsea were drawn together in the fourth round, we were all provided us with a surprise, if not welcome fixture of which to warm ourselves with on this cold, Autumn evening. For Blues boss Jose Mourinho, however, this tie was not particularly welcome at all, this being his second match against a main rival in the space of three days. Chelsea only overcame Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday and now, barely 24 hours later, travel to Emirates Stadium for another mouth-watering encounter. Both sides are expected to rest key players, meaning we will likely be seeing "fringe players" such as Juan Mata, Demba Ba, Willian and Jack Wilshere strut their stuff here. Not exactly the second, or even third string sides we usually see the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea give a run out too at this stage of the competition, but you won't be hearing any complaints from us. I'm going for a narrow Chelsea win, as Mourinho will likely field the stronger of the two sides. Prediction 1-2