STICK OR TWIST
HOW STRONG DOES ARTETA GO?
Another game, another blog post. I'm more than happy to keep churning out the content.
Hey, if you all keep reading them, I'll keep making them. Judging by the site viewing numbers, you are certainly reading them in ever-growing numbers.
​
VITAL STATISTICS
OPPONENT - CHELSEA FC
COMPETITION - EFL CUP SEMI-FINAL FIRST LEG
VENUE - THE BRIDGE
KICK OFF - WEDNESDAY 14TH JANUARY 2026, 8PM
​​
​OPENING THOUGHTS
Match day two of our four-game, ten-day road trip is here.
​
Chelsea at the Bridge under the floodlights, Cup Semi-Final first leg, Wembley in sight. Feels kinda' big right?
​
The main question and theme of today's post is, does Arteta view it in the same way?
​
Does he run back the lineup from Sunday at Portsmouth and say, okay, lads, go again and keep the big guns fresh for Forest in the league three days after? Or does he flip it and say momentum is key, let's go strong, try our best to get a good result and worry about The City Ground after.
​
I think the latter, but we'll find out later tonight when the lineups come out.
​
MOMENTUM METER
ARSENAL - W-D-W-W-W.
​
Our only blemish in our last five games is the turgid draw against Liverpool.
CHELSEA - W-L-D-D-L
​
Chelsea's form is the opposite of ours, i.e., in the toilet.
​
Maresca is now gone for pulling his skirt up at City on multiple occasions, adding to their form taking a dive. Not a good combination. They now have BlueCo employee Liam Rosenior essentially swapping departments, going from Strasbourg to Chelsea, while remaining with the same employer.
He's just a bit David Brent right? With that perma-scarf and speaking in self-help guru slang that he's picked up from whatever "100 Ways To Win Over A Room" books he's downloaded onto his Kindle.
​
I can see him in May still wearing the scarf, telling his players, "Teamwork Makes The Dream Work" and "There's No I in Team" while the squad blankly stares back at him in fourteen different languages.
​
What did Chelsea see in him? This is a guy with a career winning percentage of 39.1% across his time at Hull City and Strasbourg. Was it a marriage of convenience, with him already part of the BlueCo group? The mad-as-a-box-of-frogs owners clearly don't see it as a short-term hire; they gave him a 6.5-year deal (will they ever learn?).
​
Listen. he might be great for them, a breath of fresh air. My hunch? The Premier League is an unforgiving world and will chew him up and spit him out, and it won't take long for it to happen. My best guesstimate? He doesn't see the end of next season.
​
​ARCHIVES
We've met once this season, quite recently at the end of November at The Bridge.
We all remember the game. They treated it like a cup final, while we let a huge opportunity slip by, only drawing 1-1 in an ill-tempered game that had the shin kicker supreme, Caicedo, sent off in the first half for a disgusting tackle on Merino.
​
From what I can find, digging in the crates, we've met six times previously in the competition.
​
We have progressed twice; they have gone through three times, and the other game was a feisty final that saw 3 cards, which we lost 2-1 in 06/07 despite going ahead through a Theo Walcott goal.
​
FUN FACTS
​
1. Arsenal's last League Cup win was part of the cup double in 1993. A day made even more famous for the match-winning goalscorer, Irishman Steve Morrow, being dropped in the after-match celebrations by Tony Adams and breaking his arm.
​
2. Every Arsenal goal vs Chelsea in the competition has come from a different scorer. From Super Mac to Granit Xhaka, no Arsenal player has scored more than once in the history of the competition vs our opponents from the Bridge.
​
3. We were victorious last time we met at the semi- final stage in 17/18. After drawing 0-0 at Stamford Bridge, we won the second leg 2-1 after falling behind to an Eden Hazard goal, with goals via a Rudiger OG and a Granit Xhaka winner.
​
​KEY MATCHUP
Not so much a key matchup as an area of concern is down our left with MLS. His confidence seems to have completely evaporated.
He had the world at his feet last year, to the extent of fairytale stuff like scoring on his England debut. This year, reduced to third choice at LB, he looks completely shot.
He needs a big performance, a game where he reminds people how he got in the England team in the first place.
Up against either the young Brazilian prodigy Estevao or, if fit, Cole Palmer, it will be a tough test for him, and he'll need help from what looks like Martinelli in front of him, with Trossard doubtful through injury.
DANGER MAN
The repugnant and thuggish Enzo Fernandez is worth keeping an eye on.
He is quietly their top scorer with eight goals, and in Roseniors first game against Charlton, he certainly looked like he'd been given licence to arrive late in the box and get on the end of things.
​
Hopefully this doesn't happen, as he is one of those unlikeable guys who, if he didn't make it as a footballer, would be in jail. A proper unlikeable, nasty piece of work (and I'm trying to be kind).
PHYSIO ROOM
ARSENAL
​
MISSING - Hincapie. Calafiori. Mosquera. Dowman.
​
DOUBTFUL - Saliba, Trossard.
​
At his pre-match presser yesterday, Mikel never gave a timeframe for Hincape, saying "he didn't know yet" when asked about the scan results.
We have access to some of the best medical facilities in the world, yet we don't know the extent of an injury a full four days after it happens. Pfffffft.
He did, say, however, that Calafiori is still 'weeks away'. I'm sorry, but the whole Calafiori thing is pissing me off now.
What started off as a 'freak injury' and speculation that he had an upset stomach has now turned into a muscle injury. If he is still weeks away, that will be five weeks and counting, as his last appearance was the Palace game in the last round of this cup. Very odd and disappointing, but also very sadly predictable.
​
As for Wilo and Leo, I cannot see Arteta taking any risks with a tough league game three days after, so if there are any doubts, then they shouldn't and hopefully don't play.
​
CHELSEA
​
MISSING - Caicedo (suspended), Colwill. Lavia, Mudryk (doping suspension).
​
DOUBTFUL - Gusto, Palmer, James.
​
The three doubtful players were held out of the Charlton FA Cup game as a precaution, and all are expected to play.
Did you know that Chelsea signed Romeo Lavia when he was 19? He's now 22 and has NEVER completed 90 minutes for them. How incredible is that?
​
STARTING SHOUT
Reading between the lines from Arteta's press conference yesterday, I think he will go as strongly as he can.
Injuries, at the back mean the defence picks itself, but further forward, I think he goes with the strongest he has.
​
My guess at the lineup is below.
Because I don't speak fluent Arteta, I'm not sure how bad the injuries to Saliba and Trossard are. If there are any doubts at all, I'd rather play cardboard cutouts of Stepanovs and Miyaichi than risk either of them.
His injury updates remind me of a David Lynch film. All a bit vague with a gloomy theme, but in reality, nobody knows what the fuck is going on.
This is, of course, deliberate on Mikels' part. He does this often to keep the opposition guessing. Nothing wrong with it, but it makes predicting the lineup harder for sure.
If both are fit, they start. Trossard replaces Martinelli, and Saliba would start at CB, with Timber then moving to RB to replace White. ​
​
FINAL THOUGHTS
I can see it being a tight, tense affair with few goals. First legs of a two-legged tie often are.
I do, however, get the sense that Chelsea, under new management, getting used to new ideas etc are there for the taking.
Don't let the Charlton drubbing mask the fact that their form is awful. They were winless in four prior. There are a couple of reasons why Maresca got the boot; it wasn't all down to batting his eyelids repeatedly at City.
I guess the mood for tonight is confidence, mixed with slight apprehension.
Confident that we can turn them over, but also apprehensive that they will treat it like a cup final again, much like they did in the league there in November. Meaning I'd love a win, I fancy a win, but a draw away in a two-legged tie isn't the worst result in the world.
​
Man, that sounded like such a weak sauce cop-out. Fuck it. I'm confident. I think we'll win, and I'd be disappointed if we don't.
Kepa to have the game of his life, and Madueke and Havertz to both score in a Gunners victory.
There, fixed it.
COYG!!
​
​