Brentford hosts Arsenal in the third round of the Carabao Cup tonight, which will give an opportunity for the fringe players in the side to stand up and be counted. Injuries have ravaged the squad this season, and with football games coming up basically every three days, squad rotation is important and we will be hopeful that these players, despite their obvious rustiness, put up performances worthy of qualification to the next round.

Arsenal hasn’t won the Carabao Cup since 1993, and they have made the finals just twice in recent memory, shamefully losing to Birmingham City in 2011 and losing resoundingly to Manchester City in 2018. The first set of third round matches commenced last night, with the usual surprises coming with Exeter defeating Luton Town and Ipswich dispatching Wolves. The Carabao Cup holders, Manchester United, managed to get a decent result against Crystal Palace.

Brentford come into this game on the back of successive defeats in the Premier League, suffering a narrow loss to Newcastle and following it up with a surprising home loss to Everton last weekend. In the absence of Ivan Toney that has been suspended till January 2024, the mantle of goalscoring responsibility fell to Yoane Wissa and the returning Neal Maupay, but the primary goal scorer has been Bryan Mbeumo.

To team news, Brentford will be without Rico Henry that suffered an ACL injury in the Newcastle game and will be ruled out for the remainder of the campaign. Ben Mee has struggled for fitness this season, which has made the signing of Nathan Collins from Wolves all important. Kevin Schade and Mikkel Damsgaard are doubts, Shannon Baptiste has been a long term absentee, and ex-Gunner, Josh daSilva, is out with a hamstring injury.

Arsenal has their own injury concerns to contend with Thomas Partey ruled out till the next international break. Gabriel Martinelli suffered a hamstring injury in the Everton game, Leandro Trossard got injured back the North London Derby, while Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice suffered injuries in the draw with Tottenham.

We would expect to see Ramsdale return in goal after missing three games courtesy of David Raya usurping him and he would want to put a good performance for the good of the team. It will also be good to see Mo Elneny return to the pitch after quite a long while out. I hope the lads will do enough to go to the next round. I don’t need anything too flashy. Just a good ol’ Arsenal win. 

Brentford and Arsenal Predicted Lineups

Brentford: Strakosha; Roerslev, Zanka, Ajer, Hickey; Jensen, Janelt, Onyeka; Mbeumo, Wissa, Lewis-Potter

Arsenal: Ramsdale; Cedric, Saliba, Kiwior, Tomiyasu; Jorginho, Havertz, F. Vieira; Smith Rowe, Nketiah, Nelson

Injury / Suspension Updates

Brentford: Shannon Baptiste (shoulder), Josh daSilva (hamstring), Ben Mee (muscle), Mikkel Damsgaard (muscle), Kevin Schade (muscle), Rico Henry (knee), Ivan Toney (suspension)

Arsenal: Jurrien Timber (knee), Gabriel Martinelli (hamstring), Declan Rice (back), Leandro Trossard (muscle), Thomas Partey (groin), Bukayo Saka (knock), 

Form Guide

Brentford

• Last Five Games: D W D L L
• Last Result: Brentford 1-3 Everton (Jensen 28′ | Doucoure 6′, Tarkowski 67′, Calvert-Lewin 71′)
• Leading Goalscorer: Bryan Mbeumo (4)

Arsenal Form

• Last Five Games: D W W W D
• Last Result: Arsenal 2-2 Tottenham (Romero OG 26′, Saka 54′ | Son 42′, 56′)
• Leading Goalscorer: Bukayo Saka (3)

Gooner Daily predicts a 3 – 1 win.

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