Probably the brightest aspect of the Arsenal season thus far, at least in my opinion, is the strong, rapid development of the youngsters. We certainly saw that on display in the last round of the League Cup competition, whey they absolutely demolished Nottingham Forest 5-0.
Now comes a much tougher challenge, where they must visit the Anfield fortress to take on the reigning European title holders and current Premier League table toppers. It’s a round of 16 clash that should see Gunners boss Unai Emery elect to start some of his youngsters.
In our predicted starting XI, we’re going with a back three, plus two wing backs, two holding/central midfielder, two attacking midfielders and then one centre forward.
We’re also picking the long frozen out with absolutely no explanation Mesut Ozil to make an appearance. Don’t let us down Mr. Emery.
Arsenal potential starting lineup for EFL Cup
Martinelli
Ozil Saka
Torreira Willock
Maitland-Niles Bellerin Holding Mustafi Kolasinac
Martinez
Arsenal at Liverpool FC FYIs
Kickoff: Wednesday Oct 30, 8:30 BST, Anfield
Team news for both sides: go to this link
Starting XI Predictions: Arsenal Liverpool
TV: Sky Sports Main Event
Referee: Andre Marinner
Prediction: Liverpool 3, Arsenal 0
Liverpool have won 14 straight at Anfield going back to February 27. The last time they didn’t win on Merseyside was against Bayern Munich in the Champions League Round of 16. And as you might have heard, Arsenal has some issues with their road form to say the least.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.