Arsenal vs West Ham United. Carabao Cup Quarter-Final.
Emirates StadiumAttendance44,741.
Tuesday 19 December 2017 20:27, UK
Manuel Lanzini is set to miss West Ham's Carabao Cup quarter-final against Arsenal at the Emirates on Tuesday after his FA charge for deceiving a match official.
The Argentine midfielder was charged for going to ground and winning a penalty in West Ham's win at Stoke at the weekend and could also miss the visit of Newcastle on Saturday.
West Ham have been in good form since David Moyes' appointment, picking up wins against Chelsea and Stoke as well as a point against Arsenal last week.
However, Moyes has a depleted squad to pick from for the Carabao Cup clash, particularly in midfield with a number of players set to miss out through injury or suspension.
Arsenal have also been in good form recently, losing just once in their last seven fixtures in all competitions although Arsene Wenger is expected to rotate his side for the game.
Arsenal beat Norwich City 2-1 in the last round thanks to teenage striker Eddie Nketiah's double, while West Ham came from 2-0 down to beat Arsenal's north London rivals Spurs 3-2 at Wembley.
Wenger will be without Aaron Ramsey who has been ruled out of action until January with a hamstring injury. Jack Wilshere has stepped in to replace the Welshman in recent matches and could retain his place.
Shkodran Mustafi is fit again after sustaining a thigh injury against Manchester United but is unlikely to feature against the Hammers on Tuesday.
The likes of David Ospina, Mathieu Debuchy, Mohamed Elneny and Danny Welbeck will be hopeful of coming into the side as Wenger freshens things up ahead of Friday's league clash against Liverpool - live on Sky Sports Premier League.
West Ham will be without Jose Fonte, Edimilson Fernandes (both ankle), and Sam Byram (thigh) for the game, while Cheikhou Kouyate and Mark Noble (both hamstring), Pablo Zabaleta (thigh), Marko Arnautovic (calf) are all rated as doubtful for the trip to the Emirates.
Moyes is more hopeful about the fitness of Andy Carroll, though, saying that the striker could return from a back injury, while he will also give a start to Joe Hart in place of Adrian.
This will be the third meeting between these sides in this competition, with West Ham winning a third-round tie in October 1966, and Arsenal winning at this stage at Upton Park in January 1998.
Both winners of League Cup ties between these clubs have ended up being losing semi-finalists in that season's competition.
West Ham were the first side to beat Arsenal in a competitive game at the Emirates Stadium, back in April 2007. Since then however, they've lost seven of their nine visits to the ground (W1 D1), with an aggregate score of 19-4 to Arsenal.
The Gunners have lost their last four home League Cup games against fellow Premier League sides, losing 2-0 against Southampton at this exact stage last season.
The Hammers are looking to reach the semi-finals for the second time in the last five seasons, having only reached the last four in one of their previous 23 campaigns.
Despite reaching the final on two occasions, the League Cup is the one English domestic trophy Arsene Wenger has yet to win with Arsenal. This will be his 14th quarter-final tie in the competition, and he's progressed from six of the previous 13.
Eddie Nketiah scored a brace in the last round to send Arsenal through - in doing so he became the first player born after Arsene Wenger became Arsenal manager to score for the club.
No player has had a hand in more Carabao Cup goals this season than West Ham's Andre Ayew (3 goals, 1 assist).
Arsenal v West Ham (Tuesday, 7.45pm)
I think the West Ham boys will be given a deserved rest here. I'm a strong believer in momentum but it has been an intense run for them and they were fantastic at the weekend.
I'm biased toward David Moyes because he's a friend of mine but it was always going to be a graft for him. The tools are there for him with the likes of Marko Arnautovic and Winston Reid, who was being touted as a £20 signing for Liverpool 18 months ago, but it has been impressive.
However, the league has to be the priority here despite climbing a few places and I'd expect seven or eight changes.
Arsenal will play some of the kids again but I can see them wearing the visitors down, with the quality of Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott being enough to get the job done.
Charlie predicts: 2-0 and Walcott to score first (20/1 with Sky Bet)
Arsenal are Sky Bet's 1/2 favourites to progress within 90 minutes, with West Ham priced at 5/1 while the draw and extra-time is a 10/3 chance. Olivier Giroud heads the first goalscorer betting at 11/4 while Andy Carroll and Javier Hernandez are considered the visitors' main threats at 8/1 despite losing favour under David Moyes. The Gunners are 9/2 fourth favourites in the outright betting while the Hammers are up against odds of 25/1 to lift the trophy.
