Carling Cup 3rd Round
 

Season 2007-2008

ARSENAL

 v

NEWCASTLE UNITED

  Date: Wednesday 26th September 2007
  Venue: Emirates Stadium
  Kick Off: 4:45am (AEST)
  Referee: Howard Webb (Rotherham, Yorkshire)
  Australian Live TV: None
  Internet Live TV Coverage: Check http://www.football4less.com & http://livefooty.doctor-serv.com/ closer to kick off.
  Weather Forecast: 8c
 

 
  Betting:
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Arsenal win Draw (after 90 mins) Newcastle win
$1.80 $3.40 $4.50
   
  Squad:
  Harper, Given, Beye, Edgar, Rozehnal, Taylor, Enrique, Faye, Milner, Geremi, Butt, Smith, N'Zogbia Pattison, Viduka, Martins, Ameobi
   
  Team News:
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- Damien Duff (ankle) is expected to be out until November after having surgery on his injured ankle.
- Peter Ramage (knee) is out for the foreseeable future after getting inured at Middlesbrough.
- Stephen Carr (hamstring) is out for another three weeks after getting inured at Middlesbrough.
- Joey Barton (broken metatarsal) is in the final stages of his recovery.
- Celestine Babayaro (groin) seems to be back a setback and is back on the injury list.
- Emre (calf/shin) is again missing, with his fitness now becoming a real concern.
- Michael Owen (groin) is going for a scan and has been ruled out by Sam Allardyce.
- Claudio Casapa (groin) has been ruled out by Sam Allardyce.
- Mark Viduka (foot) had to come off against West Ham and is a slight doubt.
   
  Sam Allardyce pre-game comments:
  "Mark Viduka had to come off because of his foot and unfortunately Claudio had to come off late in the game because of a groin problem. He'll definitely be out of the Arsenal game and, like Michael, will see a specialist because he could possibly have a hernia.

We are going down to Arsenal and we've got to pick the 11 physically fittest players, so there'll be quite a few changes."
   
  Match Stats:
 
 Previous League Cup meetings    
 Wednesday 6th October 1971
 League Cup 3rd Round
 Arsenal 4-0 Newcastle United
 
 Wednesday 10th January 1996
 League Cup 5th Round
 Arsenal 2-0 Newcastle United
   
 

My thoughts:
 

Big changes to both sides are expected for this Carling Cup tie. As is usual for Arsene Wenger, Arsenal will no doubt field a XI with a mixture of fringe players and youth players.

We come into this game under a new injury cloud. Casapa and Michael Owen have been ruled out and Viduka will need a late fitness test to determine whether he will be risked. Sam Allardyce has already indicated there will be a few changes, so expect to see Shay Given, Jose Enrique, Steven Taylor and Obefemi Martins coming into the side, plus don't rule out a full debut for Abdoulaye Faye and the return of Shola Ameobi.

Jose Enrique now being fit will give some better shape to the side. Charles N'Zogbia will move up to left midfield, which will mean James Milner can move to his much preferred right midfield role. Quality crosses from the wide area's proved to be the difference against West Ham and, if he plays, Viduka will again thrive off this type of service.

It's going to a big ask to over come a currently rampant Arsenal side at a full Emirates Stadium but with all the changes the lads coming into the side will hopefully want to play at their best to keep the starting role.

It will be an interesting test for Sam Allardyce's team and hopefully he will having learned from his mistake in tactics in our last away game.
 
HOWAY THE LADS!!!
 
  Did you know?
- Newcastle are one of only three teams to have experienced victory over Arsenal more often than defeat. In 159 meetings between the two sides the Magpies have recorded six more wins than the Gunners. The other two Clubs with a better head to head record against Arsenal are Manchester United and Liverpool.