The Game

As I always say, I simply love the Carling Cup. It is ultimately the competition where all the good Arsene Wenger does for the club is available for everyone to admire.

Although, ironically enough, today we may see very little of the young generation of Arsenal with our manager saying on Monday how a strong starting eleven will be used in order to reach the Last 4 of the competition. Robin is back although there is a big question on whether he will actually start or not, I would personally use him only in the second half so as not to take any silly risks.

The game kicks off at 19:45 in the UK so it should be a nice time of the day to watch a football game no matter where you are and why not, to join us in the chat room.

And, until you wait for kick-off, check out why Marouane Chamakh thinks he’s not yet as good as the likes of Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres and Wayne Rooney and also what Jack Wilshere had to say on a Fabregas-less Arsenal after the Aston Villa game.

As always, please do join the discussion in our chat room which will also be active after the full time whistle. You will be glad to know that from this season, to provide a better chat experience to our readers, users can be banned if they post offensive comments.

Streaming Links

For those who don’t know where to watch the game, maybe we can help, follow this link for streaming options. Links are updated before and during the match.

The Line-Ups

Arsenal

Szczesny, Eboue, Koscielny, Djourou, Gibbs, Denilson, Wilshere, Walcott, Bendtner, Van Persie, Vela

Subs: James Shea, Sagna, Arshavin, Eastmond, Emmanuel-Thomas, Nordtveit.

Wigan Athletic

Al Habsi, Gohouri, Steven Caldwell, Alcaraz, Stam, McArthur, Thomas, Watson, Figueroa, Boselli, Moses

Subs: Pollitt, Di Santo, N’Zogbia, Gomez, Diame, McManaman, Mustoe

Half-Time Thoughts and Analysis

It wasn’t the best first half of football from Arsenal but considering this is an “experimental” side, I believe we should be happy with what we’ve seen.

Robin van Persie – back in the side – produced a couple of nice assists for his team mates with Carlos Vela taking full of advantage of one of them but missing his trademark chip to give Arsenal the lead.

Luckily, an own goal from Antolin Alcaraz saw us take a lead which in all honestly we deserved to take as we can look forward to the second half with optimism.

At half time, it’s Arsenal one, Wigan nil.