Arsenal host Crystal Palace at the Emirates in the quarterfinal of the Carabao Cup, with the winner to play Chelsea in a two-legged semifinal in January and February. As is always the case with this particular
competition, you wonder whether it might be better for the Gunners to go out and avoid two additional, high-pressure, high-intensity fixtures. The club, manager, and players want to win every match they play. Regardless of the extent to which Mikel Arteta rotates his side, it’ll be a quality lineup with Arsenal’s depth and the players selected will give it their all.
Crystal Palace will do the same, although Oliver Glasner’s hand might be more forced than Mikel Arteta’s. Palace played last Thursday and then Saturday. They play today and this coming Sunday. Today is their third match in six days. That’s a lot of football for a squad that isn’t as deep. Fatigue, knocks, and injuries are taking their toll and Palace’s results have dipped. They blew a 1-0 lead at home against Finnish club KuPS in the Conference League to go behind 2-1, got their tying goal against 10-men, and couldn’t find a winner despite being a man to the good. Palace have lost three of five in the Premier League and have dropped to tied 7th in the table — before the matches started coming thick and fast, they were up around the top four.
They’re still a solid team that can give anybody problems. As with any Premier League team that isn’t in the conversation to win the league, the cup competitions are of particular importance. Palace won the FA Cup last season, so they may be particularly motivated to win another pot.
Arsenal knocked Crystal Palace out of the Carabao Cup last season at this stage on the back of a Gabriel Jesus hat trick. The Gunners downed Palace at the Emirates in the PL earlier this season on the strength of an Ebere Eze goal against his former club.
Glasner will be without a slew of players for today’s match. Ismaila Sarr is away at AFCON. Daichi Kamada is out until late February with a hamstring injury. Daniel Munoz had minor knee surgery and will be out until mid-January. Rio Cardines, Caleb Kporha, and Chadi Riad Dnanou are out. Cheick Doucoure isn’t expected back from his January ACL tear until early 2026. Jean-Philippe Mateta is being managed through knee problems of his own, so even if he features, it is unlikely to be for a full 90-minutes.
Arsenal have no known new additions to the injury list. Ben White (hamstring), Gabriel (thigh), and Cristhian Mosquera (ankle) are all out. The Brazilian CB is reportedly close to returning, with the home match against Aston Villa next Tuesday, December 30th, not out of the question. Kai Havertz has returned to full training with the team but isn’t yet match ready. Max Dowman is out until February with an ankle injury.
WHO: Arsenal vs Crystal Palace
WHAT: Carabao Cup quarterfinals
WHEN: Tuesday, December 23rd, 12:oo pm PT | 3:00 pm ET | 8:00 pm GMT
WHERE: The Emirates Stadium, London
HOW TO WATCH: Streaming on the Paramount+ app
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