Arsenal vs Reading. Carabao Cup Fourth Round.
Emirates StadiumAttendance59,865.
Tuesday 25 October 2016 20:32, UK
Arsene Wenger insisted Arsenal will compete for every competition this season ahead of Tuesday night's EFL Cup meeting with Reading.
The rebranded League Cup is usually a distant fourth in Arsenal's priorities, and probably more so this term as they currently sit level on points with Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League.
Wenger's training schedule for the Emirates Stadium clash was disrupted by the club's annual general meeting on Monday but, in his speech to shareholders, the Gunners boss revealed his desire to get through to the quarter-finals.
"Our challenge is to compete for everything, starting (on Tuesday) in the League Cup," he said.
"Even if you see some new faces, our desire is to qualify and fight for everything because I believe we have a squad that is more mature and better equipped to cope with all the challenges we have.
"I am committed to give my best to ensure we are successful at the end of the season."
Wenger will make changes so youngsters Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Rob Holding, Jeff Reine-Adelaide and Chuba Akpom, who played in the 4-0 win at Nottingham Forest in the previous round, could feature again along with Spanish forward Lucas Perez.
Striker Oliver Giroud could also be added to the squad following a toe injury, while Carl Jenkinson is set to make his first Arsenal appearance since returning from his loan spell from West Ham after recovering from a long-term knee knee injury.
Reading captain Paul McShane says "the shackles are off" for his side as they put on hold their primary objective of winning promotion back into the Premier League.
The Royals travel to the Emirates boosted by Saturday's 1-0 victory at Rotherham - a result that ended a four-game winless run and left them within a point of the Championship play-off spots - but McShane insists they will be doing all they can to upset the Gunners.
"As a player, you want to be playing against big clubs like Arsenal week in, week out in the Premier League...so the league has got to be a priority. But that makes Tuesday night's match a bonus game," he said.
"And it's not impossible. If you can get a good cup run and win a few games, suddenly you're in a semi-final and then a final - and if you win a cup, the club talks about it for years and years to come. We can play good stuff as we've seen this season, so let's go and test ourselves against the best."
Reading's Yann Kermorgant is a former Grenoble team-mate of Giroud and will hope for an Emirates reunion with the fit-again forward.
Opta Stats
Arsenal's 7-5 win at Reading in October 2012 is the joint highest scoring match in League Cup history (also Dagenham 6-6 Brentford in August 2014).
Reading have lost all 13 of their previous meetings with Arsenal in all competitions.
The Gunners have lost their last two home games in the League Cup. They've never lost three in a row at home in the competition before.
However, they're unbeaten in their last 27 home League Cup games against sides from a lower division (W24 D3), since a 1-2 loss against Walsall in November 1983.
The last two times Reading have reached this stage of the competition, they've been eliminated by Arsenal (0-3 in November 2005 and 5-7 in October 2012).
Charlie Nicholas' prediction
Arsenal have got the strongest squad in Premier League. The sort of players who come in here are experienced and should be ready to step up for the first team and seize on a disappointing result at the weekend.
Olivier Giroud will probably get a run out, I'm not sure about Aaron Ramsey but you've also got Lucas Perez, Kieran Gibbs, David Ospina, Rob Holding and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who is looking more influential.
There's a few I'd like to see get a chance. One is the boy Jeff Reine-Adelaide, who I've only seen glimpses of but looks like he could be the next Alex Iwobi, and Mohamed Elneny is another one.
Reading are still learning under Jaap Stam and I see no excuses for the Gunners, who will still have plenty of experience, so I'm expecting those who disappointed at the weekend to be pushed for their places in a comfortable win.
Charlie predicts: 3-1 and Giroud to score first
