It’s a London derby in the League Cup, when Crystal Palace visits Arsenal FC for a quarterfinal clash. Arsenal keep on winning, but doing so in a much more pragmatic way as of late. They are not playing beautiful swash-buckling football right now. And with festive period fixture congestion about to start, manager Mikel Arteta will likely rotate his side against Crystal Palace.
League Cup Quarterfinal FYIs
Arsenal FC vs Crystal Palace
Kickoff: Tue. Dec. 23rd, 8pm, Emirates Stadium, London, UK
Arsenal Preview Material: Team News Starting Lineup Prediction
This is the only League Cup match in midweek. There is also no European football again until well into the New Year. And with no league clashes until Friday/Boxing Day, this is indeed a strange week, as it has no midweek football (beyond this match).
We would say that Christmas is the reason for that, but you know how things are these days. The league and their television partners do not have any problems at all with putting teams to work during the Yuletide! Ebeneezer Scrooge would be so proud of that!
Arsenal Predicted Starting XI vs Crystal Palace
Kepa Arrizabalaga; Josh Nichols, William Saliba, Riccardo Calafiori, Myles Lewis-Skelly; Eberechi Eze, Christian Norgaard, Mikel Merino; Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.