Carling Cup Preview: Newcastle United vs. Arsenal
The 4th round match in the Carling Cup sees Newcastle United take on Arsenal on Wednesday night in a mouth-watering fixture at St. James’ Park. The two English Premier League teams will fight for a place in the last
8 of the League Cup.
Newcastle reached the 4th round thanks to a thrilling victory at Stamford Bridge against the Premier League champions Chelsea. The men in black-and-white produced a heroic performance against the west-Londoners and emerged
4-3 winners.
Arsenal managed to come out on top in the 3rd round’s north-London derby against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane. The Gunners showed a strong performance on the night and beat their rivals 4-1.
The Magpies will also be spurred by their victory on Saturday night against West Ham United in the Premier League, where they came back from a goal down to win the match 2-1.
Newcastle United manager Chris Hughton is expected to rest some of his key players for the Tyne-Wear derby at the weekend against Sunderland FC. This can mean that striker Andrew Carroll will be out of the squad for the match against
Arsenal. Carroll was sentenced to a fine by a local court, over charges of assault. The manager believes the 21-year-old striker will learn from his lessons.
Hughton said, “He is a player that’s very much in the limelight and we hope he continues to be in the limelight, but for what he does on the football pitch.”
Meanwhile, Arsenal will make their trip on Wednesday night on the back of an excellent 3-0 league victory over Premier League title challengers Manchester City. Arsene Wenger’s men beat City at the City of Manchester Stadium on
Sunday and bounced to 2nd position in the Premier League, 5 points behind table-toppers Chelsea.
Arsenal’s manager will be resting some of his fringe players and shuffling his squad for the clash against Newcastle. This could mean a start for winger Theo Walcott and Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner. Bendtner came off the bench
to score the third goal against City at the weekend.
Although the Carling Cup is not on top of Wenger’s priority list, he still takes the competition as an opportunity to win some silverware this season.
The Toons have never won the League Cup; a runners-up medal in 1976 is their highest achievement in the competition. The Gunners, on the other hand, have won the Cup twice and have ended up being the losing finalists on four occasions.
This will be the 166th meeting between the two clubs; The Magpies having won 65 times, 1 more than The Gunners.
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