Arsenal to Play Manchester City in Challenging Carling Cup Draw

After a fantastic 5-3 Arsenal victory over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge Saturday, the Gunners learned they would play Premier League leaders Manchester City in the quarterfinals of the Carling Cup.

Liverpool and Chelsea is the other exciting quarterfinal draw. Manchester United will play Crystal Palace, and Cardiff will face Blackburn.

To get to the quarterfinal, the Gunners beat the Bolton Wanderers 2-1 on a fantastic strike by new summer signing Park Chu-Young, who is finally starting to settle in at the Emirates.

After losing a heartbreaker in the Carling Cup Final to Birmingham City last season, Arsenal looks to get back to Wembley Stadium to win their first trophy in years.

The team will certainly use their Cup Final loss last season as inspiration to do well this campaign.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the following, via Soccernet:

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"People forget that we did fight very hard to get there and overall we produced great performances in the Carling Cup last year. That's very important as well.

"There is hunger in this team no matter what competition. We want to do well in the Carling Cup, the championship, the Champions League, in every single competition."

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To get back to the Final, the Gunners must defeat the hottest team in the Premier League.

Manchester City has dominated the league the past few weeks, including a dominating 6-1 win against defending league champions Manchester United at Old Trafford Oct. 23.

City's strength is its attack, led by forwards Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and midfielder David Silva.

The Gunners' weakness is their defense, but it has been improving over their current winning form. The club has won eight of its last nine games in all competitions, and with the healthy return of Thomas Vermaelan the defense is now stronger.

Arsenal will have a tough time defeating City in the Carling Cup quarterfinal, but they certainly have a chance.

Dutch striker Robin van Persie has scored seven goals in his last three Premier League games, including a hat-trick against Chelsea Saturday.

Arsenal is a team full of confidence and truly believes they can win trophies this season.

Nicholas Goss is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter for the latest sports news and updates. Follow @NicholasGoss35