Author: Staff Writer

Both Arsene Wenger and Rafael Benitez have revealed their sides which will do battle at a packed Emirates Stadium this evening for a place in the 5th round of the Carling Cup.

Young Guns will be providing a full match report on the full-time whistle so be sure to check back if you cannot get to see the game. The major team news see’s Craig Eastmond make his debut in the centre of the park, replacing Francis Coquelin, while Fran Merida takes advantage of injuries to Armand Traore and Jack Wilshere to start.

Arsenal Starting XI

Fabianski
Gilbert – Senderos – Silvestre – Gibbs,
Ramsey – Eastmond – Merida
Bendtner – Eduardo – Nasri

Liverpool Starting XI

Cavalieri
Degen – Skrtel – Kyrgiakos – Insua
Kuyt – Spearing – Plessis – Babel
Voronin – N’Gog

Subs: Reina, Aquilani, Benayoun, Darby, Dossena, Eccleston, Ayala.

Article By – J.Sanderson

The eagerly awaited Carling Cup tie between Arsenal and Liverpool comes to fruition tonight where many of the most talented young players in the country will be on display.

Arsenal comfortably beat West Brom in the previous round, where as Liverpool struggled at Leeds before walking away with a 1-0 victory. Rafael Benitez decided to play a near full strength side at Elland Road, but this time it is believed that many of his regular first team players will be rested after a stuttering start in the Premiership and Champions League. Damien Plessis, Jay Spearing, and Daniel Ayala are all expected to feature along with fringe first teamers Ryan Babel, David Ngog and Philip Degen.

Arsenal are able to welcome back Samir Nasri and Lukasz Fabianski in to the squad for the first time this season after both recovering from injury. Nasri has been sidelined with a broken leg since pre season, only playing 58 minutes of competitive football against Wolves reserves last week and it is likely that Arsene Wenger will want to help enhance his recuperation by gaining some vital playing time.

The only change at the back will see Fabianski return between the sticks, whilst the back four that kept West Brom at bay in the previous round is likely to be the same. The midfield is an extremely competitive area with Merida, Randall and Coquelin pushing for starts, but the latter is expected to get the nod after an impressive full debut against West Brom, joining Ramsey and Nasri in the engine room. Traore and Wilshere are suffering with minor knocks and will miss the clash, so the Mexican Carlos Vela will get a much deserved first start of the season. Nicklas Bendtner and Eduardo will join him to make up the front three and complete a somewhat ‘experienced’ Carling Cup team, meaning Sunu and Watt will have to settle for a place on the bench along with Eastmond, Frimpong, Bartley and Merida.

Fabianski
Gilbert – Senderos – Silvestre – Gibbs
Ramsey – Coquelin – Nasri
Bendtner – Eduardo – Vela

Subs – Szczesny, Bartley, Eastmond, Frimpong, Merida, Sunu, Watt

The last time these two teams met in the Carling Cup Arsenal strolled to an emphatic 6-3 victory and if that result is anything to go by it should be an interesting encounter that will hopefully bring out the best in Arsenal’s young guns at a packed Emirates Stadium.

You can hear J.Sanderson’s views ahead of this fixture over at Arsenal FC Blog where he appears on this weeks Podcast.

Article By – Nick Love

Barcelona look to be attempting to get their own back on Arsenal’s ‘poaching’ of their young players in a copycat move which has seen them step up their pursuit of striker Benik Afobe.

The 16-year-old is currently in Azerbaijan with the England Under 17 squad where representatives from Barcelona are present to check on the forward. They saw him score two and make two for England as they romped past Kazakhstan, winning 6-2. Benik scooped the Man of the Match award and looked superb as the Three Lions began their qualifying round in rampant form.

A continuation of that form will only see the Catalan based outfit maintain their stance. They are keen to snap up Afobe who has been offered a professional contract ahead of his 17th birthday. Barça are ready to dramatically boost his wages to £5500 a week and offer him an instant chance to play for Barcelona Atlètic, the clubs ‘B’ team which plays in the Segunda División B, the third tier of Spanish football.

Atlètic coach Luis Enrique already has some exciting forwards at his disposal with the likes of Elvis Onyema and Jonathan dos Santos but with the squads roster constantly changing, Afobe represents a player for the future. More news is expected when Benik completes his duty with England where the once in a lifetime opportunity to join the European Champions could be on a plate for the Dagenham-based starlet.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Young Guns’ J.Sanderson is live this evening on Deaje’s Deadly Football show from 10pm.

To get involved visit the link below at 10pm UK time and enjoy an hour of the hottest football debate around. This week we’ll be discussing a whole manner of mostly Arsenal related subjects including the goalkeeping situation, the West Ham draw and the Carling Cup, plus much more. If you have any questions you want answered or points to raise with either me or Deaje, then use the chat section on the side of the media player, leave a comment below, or send an e-mail to – youngguns.wordpress@googlemail.com

For more information on the show – Click Here.

Link One To Watch Live – Link Two To Watch live

Article By – J.Sanderson

Nacer Barazite’s year is over after the Dutch winger was given a recovery time of 8 to 12 weeks after having surgery on his troublesome shoulder.

The Holland U21 international aggravated the injury whilst playing for his country earlier in the month against Finland and as a result will miss the up and coming Carling Cup clash against Liverpool. Barazite has had frequent trouble with his shoulder in the past, previously dislocating it whilst actually playing in the Carling Cup against Blackburn Rovers two seasons ago.

Nacer has looked lively so far this season and has been a key figure in the reserves unbeaten start. After spending last season on loan at Derby the injury comes as a real blow for the young gunner who was hoping to make a genuine attempt to break in to the first team squad this season. The club have now decided to act on the problem and go directly to surgery – something they eventually had to do with Theo Walcott – during a time where second-string fixtures are scarce.

Although Barazite is yet to really impose himself of Arsene Wenger’s teams this season, he had a 21 minute cameo against West Brom earlier in the season and it was likely that he would have had some playing time against Liverpool in mid-week. However, Barazite will be hoping that he returns swiftly from his surgery in what could be a defining season for the young man.

Article By J.Sanderson & Nick Love

American teenager Luis Gil is mulling over a move to Arsenal after Liam Brady offered the Pateadores Soccer Club graduate scholarship forms with the club.

Gil has been training full-time at London Colney since May and the diminutive midfielder has even featured in a handful of behind closed doors games for Steve Gatting’s Under 16’s.

Luis is the second youngest player in the US Under 17 residency program and was one of the US Under 17 team’s top players in the recent CONCACAF Championships. A goal and two assists from the play-maker against Cuba set the tone and although the American side didn’t get the chance to win the tournament due to he H1N1 strain of Swine Flu breaking out in Mexico, Gil was especially singled out for applause.

A decision will be made after America’s parciptation in the forthcoming Under 17 World Cup in Nigeria but it has been reported that two Spanish clubs have also approached Gil’s representatives and are trying to negotiate a contract. That said, Arsenal are the front-runners but as things stand Luis’ future is still up in the air.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Welcome to this weekends Loanees Watch – Young Guns’ analysis, reports and updates on the progress of the young starlets currently plying their trade away from the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal currently have six Reserves & Youth players gaining experience elsewhere. Jay Simpson is taking part in his third loan spell in as many years with West London outfit Queens Park Rangers. He is joined in the Championship by Henri Lansbury and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas who are with Watford and Blackpool respectively. Gavin Hoyte has made his second loan move in a year by sealing a temporary switch to Brighton in League One.

The Gunners currently have two youngsters cutting their teeth abroad. Pedro Botelho is spending his third successive loan spell in the Spanish Segunda, but this time with Celta de Vigo, while Håvard Nordtveit is spending the campaign in Germany with Nuremberg.

Read all the latest reports below.

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After turning in numerous star performances in the midfield engine room for Nürnberg, Håvard Nordtveit has been tipped to build a career from the middle of the park by his Under 21 manager, Øystein Gåre.

Nordtveit has been nurtured into the defensive midfield role during his time in the Bundesliga and although he is currently out of the team at the moment, there is no doubt that the 19-year-old has been one of the revelations of the campaign. The combative starlet is yet to fully hone his new style for his national team, but Under 21 coach Øystein Gåre believes maintaining his form will see Håvard make waves on the national front.

“He has played very well in this position. As long as he is playing in Germany, I actually think that position suits him better than being a central defender. It would be no surprise if Håvard eventually ended up as a midfield player.

That just tells you how good a footballer he really is. At this point it will just be an advantage to be tried out in different positions.”

Whether Nordtveit is recalled by Nürnberg’s Michael Oenning for this weekends game is another matter, but it would certainly be a surprise if he was left again. Håvard’s much talked about passing range added to his good tracking and excellent tackling, the Norwegian could be the answer to Arsenal’s long-term midfield problems.

Article By – J.Sanderson

Arsenals first team have made steady progress this season, with the new formation paying dividends, particularly in the final third of the pitch where Arsenal have been able to score freely. As always though a ball winner in the centre of the park is vital and at the moment Song has made the position his own, breaking up play and putting in some mighty challenges.

As I sat watching the AZ Alkmaar game though, Song was on the end of a nasty challenge and with Denilson the only other natural defensive midfielder currently out injured for a couple of months, it dawned on me, who would play there if Song was also on the treatment table? Eboue and Nasri have both had stints but are essentially ball players rather than ball winners and Ramsey, Fabregas, Rosicky and Diaby are also attacking players.

It could be argued that so long as the three midfielders in the middle of the park defend as a unit then a ball winner is not essential, but in the Premiership that is very hard to get away with, and let’s face it Arsenal in recent years have been an example of this. The only real natural, ball winner, apart from Song and Denilson in the Arsenal squad is Francis Coquelin, who lives for those battles.

Coquelin has been awesome since his arrival from Laval; he was a main cog in the youth team’s success last year and is possibly player of the season so far for the reserves. His ability to break up play, and provide a shield for the back four has not only helped the reserves concede only two goals in the league but also enables his more attacking counterparts freedom to break forward. After making his first start in the Carling Cup against West Brom, Coquelin is looking to follow in the footsteps of many of the Arsenal players, by establishing himself in the competition. But with limited defensive options in centre of midfield, should Wenger be giving Coquelin more time in the first team, and use him in a similar way to Wilshere and Ramsey; clocking up minutes here and there. Even against AZ it would have been nice to have the option of an out and out defensive midfielder, just to help shut up shop in the final 10 minutes, putting in vital challenges. It may seem quite defensive, but it’s an alternative, and in Europe it is a very helpful one to have.

If Song was to get injured then at least there is the option of a natural defensive midfielder who has had experience of first team action, rather than a makeshift holding midfielder, and Coquelin certainly looks more than capable.

Article By – Nick Love