Sheffield Wednesday vs. Arsenal: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Streams, TV Info
Sheffield Wednesday host Arsenal in the Capital One Cup fourth round, with Carlos Carvalhal's side attempting to put an end to the Gunners' excellent run of form.
They certainly have the potential to test Arsene Wenger's men. Wednesday have started the season well, and currently seem well positioned for a push for a place in the Championship play-offs.
Nevertheless, Arsenal will be delighted to be facing opposition from a lower division after coming through a daunting north London derby in the previous round.
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The Owls already have a significant scalp to their name, having beaten Steve McClaren's Newcastle side earlier this season. If they can overcome Arsenal, that will be an even greater achievement.
Date: Tuesday, October 27
Time: 7.45 p.m. GMT / 3.45 p.m. ET
Location: Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield
Television coverage: Sky Sports 1/Sky Sports 1 HD (U.K. only);beIN SPORTS Español (U.S. only)
Streaming: Sky Go (U.K. only), fuboTV (U.S. only)
Form
Sheffield Wednesday
W (1-2) vs. Brentford
W (3-1) vs. Preston
D (1-1) vs. Hull
D (0-0) vs. QPR
W (1-2) vs. Rotherham
Arsenal
L (2-3) vs. Olympiakos
W (3-0) vs. Manchester United
W (0-3) vs. Watford
W (2-0) vs. Bayern Munich
W (2-1) vs. Everton
This is a clash between two in-form teams: The home side haven't lost in either the Championship or the cup competitions since early September, while Arsenal have triumphed in their last four consecutive matches.
The Managers
Wednesday boss Carvalhal has been eager to downplay his side's chances of success, perhaps in an attempt to pile the pressure on favourites Arsenal.
He told BBC Radio Sheffield:
"We will fight for the whole match and we will be competitive. It will be interesting to see how it goes. We have probably a 10 per cent chance of getting through. It is not very much but it is better than zero. Zero means you can do nothing, 10 per cent means we will have 10 per cent of the chances and we have to grab them.
It will be a fantastic day and it will make people remember the past and we hope games like this can be normal for us in the future. We are playing one of the best teams in the world. I think they have scored 18 goals in their last six games and that includes games against Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
"
Carvalhal's caution is understandable, but whatever he says in public will mask a private belief that his team can cause a major upset.
In north London, Wenger is, understandably, taking a good deal of satisfaction from the way Arsenal have turned their season around. After a slightly so slow, they now find themselves top of the league.
He told Arsenal.com:
"It is very pleasing [to go top of the table. We were in a crisis at the start of the season and nine games later nobody would have predicted that because we relied on our spirit, our togetherness and our desire to do well. It worked so lets continue with these ingredients.
"
Wenger will hope his men can now carry their momentum into the Capital One Cup.
Team News
Sheffield Wednesday
In order to stand the best chance of getting a positive result against Arsenal, Carvalhal is likely to name his strongest possible Wednesday XI.
That said, he is currently contending with a significant injury list. At present, Michael Turner, Alex Lopez, Marco Matias and Modou Sougou are all confined to the treatment room.
One man who may be given a chance to impress is young goalkeeper Joe Wildsmith. He kept a clean sheet in the last round at St. James’ Park, and could well be afforded another opportunity to play in place of Keiren Westwood.
Carvalhal will hope the height and power of forward Atdhe Nuhiu can cause trouble for an unfamiliar-looking Arsenal defence.
Predicted Sheffield Wednesday XI (4-4-2): Joe Wildsmith; Jack Hunt, Tom Lees, Glenn Loovens, Daniel Pudil; Ross Wallace, Kieran Lee, Sam Hutchinson, Barry Bannan; Fernando Forestieri, Atdhe Nuhiu.
Arsenal
With David Ospina still not recovered from the shoulder injury he picked up on international duty with Colombia, Petr Cech will continue in goal. That should lend some experience to what could be quite a youthful Arsenal side.
With the Gunners in the midst of a difficult fixture list, Wenger will surely take this opportunity to rotate his squad. The likes of Alexis Sanchez and Santi Cazorla appear to be in desperate need of a rest, so with injuries to several squad players, the Arsenal manager will be forced to turn to some younger prospects.
The likes of holding midfielder Ben Sheaf, Polish powerhouse Krystian Bielik and Nigerian flyer Alex Iwobi could all be in contention for a start.
Predicted Arsenal XI (4-3-3): Petr Cech; Mathieu Debuchy, Per Mertesacker, Calum Chambers, Kieran Gibbs; Mathieu Flamini, Ben Sheaf, Krystian Bielik; Joel Campbell, Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott.
Players to watch
Sheffield Wednesday: Joe Wildsmith
Even though this is a huge match for Wednesday, they may still entrust the goalkeeping gloves to 19-year-old Wildsmith.
The academy graduate is a huge prospect, and Carvalhal recently praised him to the roof in an interview with Dom Howson of the the Star:
"Joe had a very good match. He gave confidence to the team.
Joe is a very, very good goalkeeper. He has a big, big future. He’s only 19 years old but we trust him 100 per cent.
I’m very happy with Joe. If he keeps playing like this, he will play more times this season because we trust him a lot.
"
If Wildsmith can help keep Arsenal at bay, it will cement his credentials.
Arsenal: Alex Iwobi
In the last international break, Iwobi made his first appearances for the full Nigeria team. That capped a remarkable rise for the nephew of Jay-Jay Okocha, who is steadily making progress in his bid to break into the Arsenal first team.
Last week, the 19-year-old scored both goals, one of which was a screamer from the edge of the box, as Arsenal defeated their Bayern Munich counterparts in the UEFA Youth League.
A versatile forward with pace to burn, Iwobi will hope Wenger was watching. The match with Sheffield Wednesday would be the ideal time for him to make his senior bow.
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.
