Gunners progress to last eight in an entertaining cup tie against Leeds

Arsenal 2 Leeds United 0  
League Cup 4th Round  
Tuesday 26th October 2021 7.45pm   

I spoke to a Leeds fan on Monday who was of the view that the visitors last night would play a fairly inexperienced team for this League Cup tie, with the visit to Norwich next weekend far more important. It wasn’t the case in the end, and this made for a decent match-up in which Leeds were the better team in the opening 45 minutes.

Mikel Arteta uses the competition to give a run out to his squad members that are not seeing much in the way of game time, more so this season because of the lack of European games, so the line-up did not feature too many surprises. One was the inclusion of Ben White alongside Rob Holding with Calum Chambers available, and one hopes the apparent bug that meant White’s removal after 55 minutes will not keep him out of contention at the weekend, when a visit to Leicester looms.

Emile Smith Rowe also started, but aside from that, it was very much the back-up boys. So we had the platform to make a case for more first team action, aligned with the handicap of the team’s unfamiliarity. It did feel like they were well-drilled, and in spite of Leeds having the better of the first half, there were not too many clear cut opportunities, although there were certainly enough for Bernd Leno to remind a two-thirds full Emirates of his shot stopping abilities. Up front, Arsenal failed to really get into gear, symbolized by Pepe falling over whilst trying to dribble past two defenders. Nonetheless, with Leeds’ refreshing approach of going for a win, rather than the more usually seen caution of visiting teams, made for an open, end to end game with space to play and plenty of goal attempts – albeit generally wide of the mark.

Eddie Nketiah was given another chance and tried manfully, but he wouldn’t have changed any minds last night, in spite of a part sublime, part almost fluffed goal in the second half to secure the game. The Gunners, attacking the Clock End, were the better team after the interval, and Chambers’ first touch after coming on for Ben White was to head the ball over the line, with a few seconds for the ref to acknowledge that goal-line technology confirmed the Arsenal appeals. I assume he was checking with the linesman for offside before indicating the score. Emile Smith Rowe took the corner leading to the goal, and one thing about the home side’s corners last night (and there were plenty – 10 in total) was that they all beat the first man and generally were not swallowed up by the keeper. So good delivery, although not enough advantage was taken. It’s a start though.

In the 69th minute, a header back to the Leeds keeper was a bit short and Nketiah produced a sublime flick over Illan Meslier, before almost failing to convert a tap-in from the angle. It trickled over before two defenders could clear it and the tie felt like it was settled, not least because Marcelo Bielsa started putting on some youngsters to give them a run-out. For some reason (in spite of no extra time these days) we were back to the five subs allowed rule.

There’s generally little you can conclude about these type of games, with a shadow team and the unfamiliarity that follows as a consequence. Martinelli didn’t shine as much as one would hope, and Pepe continues to look like a player who should not be starting important matches. Neither Elneny nor Maitland-Niles look better than Lokonga or Partey, although Soares had a better game at right back than many would have thought. Conclusion – he can be inconsistent. Holding and Kolasinac are very much back ups now, although the former closer to a call-up through injury. The Bosnian was at least able to cover at centre back after Holding limped off with 14 minutes remaining. 

It was good to see some solid lines when the team was out of possession though. A clear 4-4-2 with Nketiah and Smith Rowe the players in the higher positions to press. This seems to be the road Arteta is going down now with a nod to greater defensive solidity, and consistency in tactics is desperately needed. Let’s hope that this bears fruit on Saturday lunchtime at the King Power.

As for this competition, luck of the draw will play a big part in whether or not Arsenal can progress. Granted, the League Cup has become a bit of a tinpot competition – always the bridesmaid to the FA Cup, which itself has declined in significance terribly over the last 20 years. Nonetheless, the club have only won it on two occasions (out of eight final appearances), and no-one can bemoan a day out at Wembley, so let’s see who and where the Gunners face in the last eight. With the lack of European football, it gives us a little diversion and hell, it’s nice to win things, right?

One footnote. The crowd was a lot lower than the previous round against Wimbledon, despite there being Premier League opposition and the admission prices remaining the same. My guess is that this was due to the tickets not going on general sale, presumably on police advice, given the opposition, which was limited to a 4,500 allocation. It demonstrates how many people are happy to buy a ticket to come to an Arsenal game, but not bother with signing up for a membership scheme. With more and more Premier League matches failing to sell-out at the Emirates, this may be something the club have to work out a solution to.

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