It’s time for the Sunderland boss to put up or shut up. Before the quarterfinal round drawing for the Carabao Cup took place, Sunderland manager Lee Johnson publicly stated on Twitter he would like to play either Arsenal or Tottenham in the Carabao Cup quarterfinals. The Black Cats manager said, “I would like an away trip to one of the two north London clubs, before going onto take on ‘the really big guns’ in the semifinals.”
This was a very bold statement for a League One club manager to make, however, Johnson and his club have nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Arsenal cannot go into this match thinking Sunderland will be a pushover.
Mikel Arteta is quite aware of what Sunderland will bring to the Emirates. The boss told Arsenal.com, “It will be a difficult night and their manager has a history of making life very difficult for Premier League clubs in this competition, and we have to be ready.”
The Sunderland boss has recently tempered his earlier comments by saying, “Despite my comments and bad dad jokes after the QPR game, this will genuinely be a good stage for us as a football club to try and put ourselves back on the map a bit. It’s one of the rare occasions we’ve been underdogs going into a game, and the players will take massive lessons from Tuesday, not only from the quality of Arsenal, but also testing ourselves against these elite teams.”
Sunderland is the only non-Premier League club to remain in the Carabao Cup’s final eight. Johnson’s side is currently third in League One with an impressive record of 13 wins, 4 draws and 5 defeats. They will press high and they have a formidable midfield that drives their offensive engine.
Sunderland’s last appearance as a member of the Premier League was the 2016/2017 season when they were relegated to the Championship, and subsequently to League One. They are the only non-Premier League club still playing in the Carabao Cup competition.
The Gunners will need to play a solid game, and not look past the League One club. Moving into the semifinals would be a big deal for Arsenal, and also a big step ahead in the club’s process of rebuilding a title contender.
Trophies are the reward at the end of the journey, and this match v Sunderland is an important step in that journey. The last thing we want to see is Lee Johnson gloating at the end of 90 minutes!
Temperatures in north London for the match will be in the 30’s F, and near o C, with mostly clear conditions in the forecast.
[4-4-1-1]
Martinelli
Odegaard
Smith-Rowe, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Pepe
Tavares, Holding, Chambers, Cedric
Leno
Predicted final score: ARSENAL 3 – Sunderland 0
COYG!
Gunner1953
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