Wenger Sticks With Youngsters For Blackburn Clash

Arsene Wenger will continue to blood his youngsters in the Carling Cup, even against the tough opposition of Blackburn. The Arsenal coach feels that playing a young squad will not only increase the experience of Arsenal's fringe players, but also allow the Gunners' senior squad a chance to rest during period congested with fixtures.

"The Carling Cup is more of a squad game, because we decided as a squad to go for every single trophy. Many players that didn't play against Chelsea will play at Blackburn on Tuesday night," the coach told Arsenal.com

"My expectation is to qualify and go into the semi-finals, because we want to come back as well as we did last year and as well it is a good opportunity for my squad to show how strong the players who didn't play against Chelsea are.

"I believe in them, and it is good (for the fringe players) to show me 'we knock at the door and we want to play in the first team'.

"We use the competition for our players to grow up - but not only to grow up. It is also to show they are good enough to play in the Champions League and the Premier League.

"I believe as well what is fantastic is to see these players respond under the pressure of Premier League teams, and you can detect who is ready and who is not ready."

Wenger has named the following squad for Tuesday's clash:

Lukasz Fabianksi, Justin Hoyte, Philippe Senderos, Alex Song, Armand Traore, Abou Diaby, Gilberto, Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo, Vito Mannone, Gavin Hoyte, Lassana Diarra, Neves Denilson, Henri Lansbury, Fran Merida, Nacer Barazite, William Gallas

Sheffield United vs. Arsenal: Match Review

Match Preview

Arsenal's youngsters came out 3-0 winners at Bramall Lane, following an impressive performance from the club's up-and-coming stars. A brace from Eduardo and a goal from Neves Denilson wrapped up a Carling Cup game which had been completely one-sided.

Arsenal had sixteen shots to United's six, and had an equally lopsided share of possession, controlling the ball for no less than 68% of the game.

The Gunners have booked themselves a berth in the next round of the competition where they could end up playing the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea, Everton, or cross-town rivals Tottenham.

Lineups:
Arsenal: Lukasz Fabianski; Justin Hoyte, Alex Song, Kieran Gibbs, Lassana Diarra; Neves Denilson, Gilberto Silva, Abou Diaby; Nicklas Bendtner, Eduardo da Silva, Theo Walcott

Sheffield United: Ian Bennett; Chris Armstrong, Leigh Bromby, Chris Lucketti, Chris Morgan; David Carney, Nick Montgomery, Steven Quinn, Michael Tonge; Billy Sharp, Jonathan Stead

The first five minutes of the game started relatively slowly, with neither side troubling the other's goalkeeper. That all changed, though, as Nicklas Bendtner played Eduardo into the box in the eighth minute.

The Croatian goal machine launched an unstoppable drive into Bennett's top left corner, showing some of the finishing that prompted Arsene Wenger to pick him up in the Summer.

Arsenal almost picked up a second soon after when Theo Walcott passed to Nicklas Bendtner who teed up the ball for Denilson. The Brazilian midfielder completely botched his shot though, sending the ball into the stands.

Lukasz Fabianski was rarely troubled in goal, but the young Polish keeper looked less than convincing as he punched at a ball that it seemed he could easily have caught. Nonetheless, the Blades couldn't put one past the Pole, and it was once again Arsenal who were the biggest threat in the second half.

Some slack defending was taken advantage of by the young Kieran Gibbs who's splitting pass fell perfectly into the path of Eduardo. The Croatian striker once again finished clinically, putting Arsenal 2-0 ahead after fifty minutes.

Theo Walcott almost grabbed a goal when his pace took him around Bennett, but the young England international could only hit the post from a tight angle.

It wouldn't be too long before Arsenal's third though, as Denilson made up for his earlier mistake, scoring from 25 yards out. The shot took a deflection and looped over the head of Bennett who could only look on in horror as Arsenal hit the back of the net for the last time of the night in the sixty-ninth minute.

Arsenal still pressed forwards and Eduardo was denied a hattrick by Bennett before being taken off in favor of Nacer Barazite. Henri Lansbury and Fran Merida also came on as late substitutes but the game was already over as the current table-toppers put away Sheffield United's Carling Cup hopes.

Sheffield United vs. Arsenal: Match Preview

Premier League leaders Arsenal take on the Championships nineteenth placed team, Sheffield United, this Wednesday in the fourth round of the Carling Cup. The Premiership giants were lucky to avoid drawing against the likes of Liverpool and Chelsea, but the Blades will not be nearly so happy to have to face Arsenal.

Arsenal played twice against United during the Blades brief one season stint in the Premiership, and while Arsenal demolished United 3-0 at the Emirates, the Blades will take some solace in the fact that they were able to defeat Arsenal 1-0 at Bramall Lane - the locale of Wednesday's fixture.

On current form though, Arsenal are far superior. Arsenal's first team is on a run of unbeaten games dating back to last April against West Ham. This season, Arsene Wenger's young guns went on a streak of twelve straight wins which was broken on Sunday in a 1-1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield. Arsenal are at the head of the Premiership table with eight wins, two draws, and no losses so far this season.

Sheffield are not faring nearly as well in their return to the Championship. The Blades have won only three of their thirteen games this season, the other ten consisting of five draws and an equal number of losses. United have conceded twenty-one goals this season, the second highest in the Championship, and will have to play extremely well to defeat Arsenal's young side.

Sheffield United will be given some encouragement by the fact that Arsene Wenger always plays young sides in the Carling Cup, but Arsenal's youngsters are as good as any team outside the top four, as seen in 3-1 and 6-3 victories over Liverpool last season.

This season, Arsenal's young players have managed to defeat Newcastle 2-0 in the Carling Cup third round, following impressive periods of dominance from the young gunners.

Wenger will most likely field a lineup completely different from the one which played against Newcastle, due to injuries to Philippe Senderos and Eduardo da Silva. Emmanuel Eboue is also unlikely to play on Wednesday, although he may be injected into Arsenal's depleted defense.

Lukasz Fabianksi will almost surely start in goal, as Arsene Wenger is keen on giving the promising youngster a few starts this season.

In front of the Pole will most likely be Justin Hoyte, Alex Song, Armand Traore, and Kolo Toure. Toure may have to feature in the place of the injured Philippe Senderos, although Arsene Wenger may choose to play Lassana Diarra in the defense as well. Because of the Senderos injury, Wenger may even choose to give promising young Norwegian Havard Nordtveit his senior Arsenal debut.

In the midfield Neves Denilson will likely play alongside Abou Diaby. Depending on how much Arsene Wenger trusts his youth, these two could be complimented by any number of their peers. I would love to see Kieran Gibbs and Fran Merida or even Henri Lansbury or Mark Randall feature, but I feel that Wenger will be keen on making it through to the next round so his young players can get some more experience. For that reason, the likes of Mathieu Flamini or even Gilberto may be brought in to add some experience to the young Arsenal side.

Up front, Arsene Wenger's obvious choice would be to start Nicklas Bendtner alongside the electric Theo Walcott. Walcott could soon break into the Arsenal first team following his impressive performance in the 7-0 drubbing of Slavia Prague. If he can play well on Wednesday he may even start against Manchester United next Saturday instead of leaving Emmanuel Adebayor as the lone striker.

With an impressive midfield and attacking lineup, I can't see Arsenal losing this game. I'm not going to predict any scores because they could vary greatly depending on the team that Arsene Wenger decides to field, but I think it is safe to say that Arsenal are heavy favorites in this fixture and it would be very disheartening to see them drop out at this stage of the competition.

I would be disappointed by anything less than a comprehensive victory.