Saturday, at 17:30, Arsenal moves on Blackpool’s field for a match in Round 3 of the English Cup. In the event of a draw, the game will be replayed in London, but the “guns” want to make enough effort to avoid such an outcome. The two bands also dueled in the current England League Cup, and Arsenal won the Emirates with 2-1.
The two bands met in October on Emirates, when the “tuners” were forced 2-1 thanks to the goals scored by Lichtsteiner (’33) and Smith-Rowe (’55). For Blackpool he replied after O’Connor’s break (’66), and the guest marker was also eliminated (’84). Obviously, for Blackpool it was hard to keep up, even if Arsenal rested his stars and entered the field with Pleguezuelo, Jenkinson, Smith-Rowe, Maitland-Niles and Welbeck. Guendouzi, Mkhitaryan, and Ramsey were the only regular titles used by Unai Emery at the time.
Blackpool attempted to play a brave system 4-3-3, and the most experienced footballers of the team, Delfouneso (ex-Aston Villa) and Spearing (ex-Liverpool), co-ordinated their colleagues as well. Finally, the third league did not face the “tunari” passport, which comes after an enthusiastic victory in the championship, 4-1 on Fulham’s home ground. Fully struggling for a UCL spot and qualifying in the UEL spring, Arsenal is a Cup Specialist and will not miss the chance of a facile qualification in front of a modest rival.
Blackpool comes after a series of negative results in the championship, in the third league, where he scored one point in the last 4 stages. So the failures with Barnsley (0-1), Rochdale (1-2) and Sunderland (0-1) probably affected the trust of Terry McPhillips’s students. Ranked 10th in the third league with a 6-3-4 home balance, Blackpool can not even claim in front of Arsenal reserves, and Londoners are starting to be certified as favorites, especially given the direct balance: 4 wins in 4 games, with overall go-go 14-3. It will also count on the fact that “guns” know their opponents better after the direct duel last fall.
PREDICTION: Over 2.5 goals @ 1.50
