Zinchenko and Nwaneri’s decision, the predicted Arsenal lineup against Preston, and Arteta’s planned professional debut for another young player today
Preston North End and Arsenal, the only two teams in English football to ever finish a top-flight Invincibles season, are now vying for a position in the EFL Cup quarterfinals at Deepdale on Wednesday night after both teams were engaged in captivating stalemates over the weekend.
In one of the most thrilling penalty shootouts in English football history, the Gunners defeated Fulham 5-1 to advance to round four, while their Championship hosts triumphed against Bolton Wanderers.
The Gunners entered the half with the 2-1 lead that their dominance at the Emirates deserved, earning high praise from acclaimed Liverpool head coach Arne Slot, who asserted that Arsenal was the first side to be better than his for a short while on Sunday.
However, Mikel Arteta’s defense, which was already without the banned William Saliba, was severely tested when Gabriel Magalhaes, his powerful partner, suffered an unfortunate injury as well. At the very end, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah burst through the Gunners’ rearguard.
The four-goal thriller on Sunday was undoubtedly a loss for Arsenal, who now trail Premier League leaders Manchester City by five points. However, the Gunners had five of their greatest games when Bolton visited in the EFL Cup last month.
West Ham United ended their campaign in round four last season, but Arsenal escaped back-to-back third-round losses in the EFL Cup, a tournament they haven’t won in about 31 years, thanks to two of their attempts that evening, which were led by 17-year-old gem Ethan Nwaneri.
After Bournemouth humiliated Arteta’s team to their first domestic defeat of 2024 away from home earlier this month, Arteta can sympathize with his opposite number Paul Heckingbottom on squandering leads, though not to the same extent.
Preston’s trip to Plymouth Argyle was the best Championship match in terms of results, as Heckingbottom’s squad appeared to have locked up an overwhelming victory the day before Arsenal and Liverpool took center stage in this weekend’s Premier League action.
The hosts led 3-0 going into the last thirty-five minutes of the game, but Wayne Rooney’s unflappable Argyle pulled off an incredible comeback to earn a point at Home Park; Morgan Whittaker’s injury-time goal saved a 3-3 draw.
The Preston supporters can at least think back on a moment when their team was on the right side of an incredible scoreline as the investigation into Saturday’s collapse continues: they secured their place in the fourth round of the EFL Cup with a record-breaking 16–15 penalty-shootout victory over Fulham.
Even though Heckingbottom’s team would have felt defeated by the draw with Plymouth, it did extend their winning streak to five games in the second division. Preston and the Cottagers had previously shared 31 spot kicks in the EFL Cup, making it the longest shootout in the competition’s history.
However, Preston’s lackluster record of 14 points from 12 games has left them in 16th place in the standings, and they have lost all three of their previous knockout matches against Arsenal, most recently an FA Cup match in 2016–17 in which Olivier Giroud scored the game-winning goal in the 89th minute.
Two defenders have replaced Saliba, who has served his one-game suspension, as one of Arsenal’s players returns from the sidelines. Gabriel seems to have injured his knee during the tie with Liverpool, and Jurrien Timber was substituted due to a suspected cramp.
Even if both men were totally fit, they shouldn’t have been risked from the start on Wednesday. This also applies to fellow absences Martin Odegaard (ankle) and Riccardo Calafiori (knee), while Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Kieran Tierney (hamstring) are also out.
Arsenal’s youngest-ever goalie, 16-year-old Jack Porter, started against Bolton since second-choice goalkeeper Neto was cup-tied. However, Tommy Setford, who was born in 2006, might start this game instead.
Along with veterans Raheem Sterling and Jorginho, Nwaneri, Myles Lewis-Skelly, and Josh Nichols are a few more adolescents Arteta should trust on Wednesday night.
Will Keane (tendon), Patrick Bauer (elbow), and Ched Evans (discomfort) are now in Preston’s injury room. Robbie Brady hurt his ankle in the draw with Plymouth and is also not anticipated to play.
Josh Bowler may return from illness to give Heckingbottom a backup to the injured Brady, but Montenegrin striker Milutin Osmajic is also out due to an eight-game suspension for biting Liverpool’s on-loan Blackburn Rovers defender Owen Beck a few weeks ago.
Possible starting lineup for Preston North End: Woodman; Whiteman, Frokjaer-Jensen, Ledson; Greenwood, Riis; Kesler-Hayden, Hughes, Lindsay, Storey, Potts
Setford, Nichols, Saliba, Kiwior, Lewis-Skelly; Nwaneri, Jorginho, Rice; Sterling, Jesus, Martinelli are Arsenal’s potential starting lineup.
