The front line could be made of mostly first team members, with Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo missing recent games due to injury problems. If the front line consists of Bendtner, Eduardo and Vela then I will be eagerly watching to see how takes up the right sided position

It is Carling Cup time again and this time it is one of the big guns. Liverpool FC come to the Emirates to give the youngsters what could be their biggest test since the Carling Cup final against Chelsea in 2008.

The Carling Cup has been a special cup for Arsenal in the last few seasons, I would go as far as to say that I find these games more exciting than many Champions League group matches. The atmosphere at home, along with the extra enthusiasm that is usually given from the players who are fighting for a place in the first team. These are the games that the likes of Ramsey, Gibbs and Carlos Vela are looking forward to from the very beginning of the season. The first team always know there is a game next week so naturally they do not have the very same excitement every single week.

The team is likely to be a mixture of youth and returning injured players, although they shouldn’t really be returning if they are injured but you catch my drift.

Unfortunaltley Jack Wilshere does not make the game due to an ankle injury which is a crying shame, these are the types of games where Wilshere should be testing his ability but his loss will be someone else’s gain. I partly blame myself for Wilshere’s injury. My prediction of Wilshere and Nasri switching positions came crashing back in my face shortly after positing yesterday’s article. We have to hope that the team can allow Wilshere to get at least another game in this seasons Carling Cup by putting up a fight against the scousers.

The team will be a sprinkling of first team members such as Samir Nasri who returns for his first competitive match since the end of last season after suffering fracturing, breaky things to one of his legs, well that is now all healed and he is ready to twist and turn past opposition players again.

Judging by the rest of the likely starters I would guess that Nasri will play in the position that Fabregas owns in the first team, getting himself into positions just behind the forwards, supplying the killer pass or in his case taking players on and opening up space for his team mates. I am very excited about the potential of Sami Nasri. His first season at only 21 was pretty impressive, especially considering that the team were not always playing as well as they should have been during last season.

Wenger pushed Nasri inside during games where we were chasing the game and he looked like a very dangerous player. Rated by many as the best young player in France should tell you enough about his quality and hopefully he can hit the ground running.

Another player I am looking forward to watching is young Francis Coquelin who should get the nod to protect his central defenders ahead of Mark Randall who could find himself on the bench once again. Coquelin a tidy two footed passer of the ball is also tenacious in the tackle and looks like a future Arsenal midfielder. He wasn’t at his best against West Brom in the last round so he will be fired up to show Arsene and the coaching staff how good he really is.

The front line could be made of mostly first team members, with Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo missing recent games due to injury problems. If the front line consists of Bendtner, Eduardo and Vela then I will be eagerly watching to see how takes up the right sided position. The Carling Cup is a great chance to give Bendtner is central position that he so craves but that would leave two left footed players in the wide areas. Some players are suited to playing on the opposite side but I cannot see that being the case with both Eduardo and Vela. Whatever the front line you would imagine that they would have the customary licence to roam around and find positions to exploit to hurt Liverpool.

I would fancy this team to give Liverpool more than a good game with their first team minus Gerrard and Torres but I am guessing that tinker Benitez will rotate his squad and play some of his members who do not usually get as many minutes as their team mates, whenever Liverpool have done that they have looked disjointed and lacking cohesion.

Let us hope that is the case.

Mean Lean’s Predicted Line Up

Mean Lean’s Match Prediction

Although I expect the Arsenal team to be younger, I expect them to have the greater experience playing together. The likes of Nasri, Bendtner and Eduardo should add enough match experience and the likes of Aaron Ramsey and Kieran Gibbs will want to show the manager that they can make the step up.

Lets hope the CC crew can help put the recent draws to bed so we can approach the Spurs game on a high.