And so Arsenal march forth on all fronts, and there is the compete draw of the League Cup, so can not only see who we play, but also who we might place if we go through after which there will of course be just eight left.
- Fleetwood Town v Arsenal
- Manchester or Norwich City v Brighton & Hove
- Everton v Newcastle United
- Sunderland v Brentford
- Liverpool v Chelsea
- Bradford v Peterborough United
- Fulham v Crystal Palace
- AFC Bournemouth v Aston Villa
| Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 12 |
|
Fleetwood Town
|
6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 10 |
So yes Fleetwood have been drawn to play Arsenal in the league cup but at the moment where the game will be played is uncertain, since on their website Fleetwood announce that “The Cods have been drawn against Arsenal in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, with the tie to be played at XXXX”. This of course implies that discussions might be ongong about where to play the game although the rules have got tighter over the years.
I believe it is still possible for clubs to elect to reverse the location from that in the draw. Fleetwood Town joined the Football League in 2012 after some time in the Conference Premier and Conference North, and have never been in a higher league as far as I know.
They reached Division Two of the Football League in 2012 and Division One in 2014 being relegated back down at the end of 2023/4. But what is particularly wonderful about them is that they used play at Highbury Stadium, (although of course not our old ground.) They shared that ground with Blackpool Reserves and was also used for home matches by Blackpool F.C. reserves until 2014 when they moved.
The reason for a possible move of venue is that the current ground only has a capacity of under 5,000 although it is quite new.
The smallness of the ground means that Altrincham could play at their own ground, could move the fixture to a nearby neutral ground or move it to Arsenal, where they could share in the takings from a crowd of maybe 30,000 or more (depending of course on the level of interest and the pricing structure). Get the prices right and it could be double that.
The rules of ground changes suggests that this cannot happen except in “extreme circumstances” and with both sides agreeing. But given this is such a small ground there could be an argument about safety from the police or the Safety Advisory Group, or the state of the playing surface. So the reason for a change normally cannot be changed just to get a bigger crowd.
The draw does mean that Arsenal will have a chance to play a few of their players who don’t normally get into the league games. The team in the last round was
- Kepa Arrizabalaga
- Martin Zubimendi
- Mark Salmon
- Gabriel
- Myles Lewis Skelly
- Bruno Bruimaraes
- Mikel Merino
- Noni Maduke
- Max Downman
- Eberchi Eze
- Viktor Gyokeres
The next game is Brighton away on 19 September at 3pm meaning that it will not be on TV but in the UK will presumably be available on the radio. That is followed by a long break and then Leeds United at home on 10 October. These international breaks are getting more and more annoying by the week!
The next round of the league cup is on 26 Octrober according to current information. As far as I can see no one in the game yesterday is reported to have picked up an injury.
Meanwhile of course the negativity goes on around Arsenal. You might have thought that last season, winning the league and having the second highest number of goals scored in the Premier League, only a handful behind ManC, would be enough to stop the nagging, but no.
Give Me Sport now tell us that “Since Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s falling out with Mikel Arteta led to his exit in early 2022, the Gunners have lacked a proven goalscorer of the Gabonese frontman’s quality. Kai Havertz has proven to be effective as a false nine but isn’t bagging goals that put him in contention for the Golden Boot.”
Now all that implies that we must have a “proven goal scorer”, and yet that is surely not the case given that Arsenal won the league in the spring without one. In fact a proven goal scorer can be a serious distraction, since he tends to be the focus of all attacks, but with a varied front line, the opposition don’t quite know where the next goal is coming from.
Indeed the website goes on to say, “Crystal Palace manager Pierre Sage underlines how important it is for the club to tie goalkeeper and captain Dean Henderson to a new long-term contract.” Again, as if we should be taking lessons from Palace.
I don’t know how long it is going to take websites to realise that Arsenal’s success, which has been evolved slowly over time, comes from re-writing the rules, not blindly following what has gone before.
Ah Well.
