Arsenal vs Doncaster

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  • The Gunners haven't lost to lower-league opposition at home in the League Cup since November 1983 against Walsall, winning 25 of their last 28 contests, including the last seven in a row.
  • In contrast, Donny have only won once in their last 19 League Cup away trips against teams from a higher division - a 2-1 win against Watford at Vicarage Road in August 2014
Arsenal change their whole starting XI from the side that drew 0-0 at Chelsea on Sunday, but their side is still full of big names, including Per Mertesacker, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Alexis Sanchez and Olivier Giroud.

Arsenal: Ospina, Chambers, Mertesacker, Holding, Nelson, Wilshere, Elneny, Maitland-Niles, Walcott, Sanchez, Giroud. Subs: Macey, Monreal, Willock, Dasilva, Iwobi, Nketiah, Akpom.

Doncaster, 19th in League One, are the lowest ranked side left in the competition and make two changes from the side that lost 1-0 at home against Scunthorpe on Sunday. Jordan Houghton, on loan from Chelsea, and Alfie May start for Darren Ferguson's side.

Doncaster: Lawlor, Mason, Wright, Butler, Blair, Houghton, Whiteman, Rowe, Kongolo, Coppinger, May. Subs: Marosi, Alcock, Toffolo, Garratt, Mandeville, Marquis, Williams.
 
Frustrating game. We've dominated the game from start to finish. They've had a couple of decent chances, but on the whole, we've been all over them. Yet we only have one goal for it, with an attack of Giroud, Sanchez and Walcott. Three international players. It annoys me when we perform like this because rather than killing teams off, it's like we're having a kick around in the park for a bit of fun. I want to see a more ruthless streak to our game.

We could easily be 4 or 5 goals up if we'd been wiser with decision-making in the final third.

I want to see us kill this off properly, no more prancing around.
 
Decent enough first half and we've scored a goal. Would be nice to be 2 or 3 up and probably would have been but for the crossbar. Nelson has played well and the pass from Sanchez for the goal was world class. Fully expect us to win this and score again in the second half <ok>
 
I normally play as a striker and the other day I was put as a right winger.....you feel SO restricted. And I guess Nelson feels the same way. We havent seen too much from him. Wish he could take the position of Walcott.
 
bobo_97 said:
I normally play as a striker and the other day I was put as a right winger.....you feel SO restricted. And I guess Nelson feels the same way. We havent seen too much from him. Wish he could take the position of Walcott.
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Yeah would like to see Nelson pushed further forward later in the game.
 
Mainland Niles is not a ****ing LWB, Wenger again just playing players in random positions, if you don't have the wing backs to play this formation, then ****ing go back to a back four.
 
Big, strong and quick that Maitland Niles, the sort of player you need in the centre of the park.
 
The way this second half has gone is exactly why you need to kill a game off when you're on top and not fanny around.

Doncaster have grown in confidence because we've not added to our lead, we've just been playing pretty triangle passes and not finished our chances properly.
 
Do we really need three CB's against teams like these? Also in this formation the wing backs are so important, and the two we have playing there tonight clearly are not playing in their natural position.
 
Elneny has been absolutely useless today. Provided nothing at all and has slowed down our momentum way too many times. Should have been taken off ages ago.
 
Big Ern said:
Big, strong and quick that Maitland Niles, the sort of player you need in the centre of the park.
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Totally agree! And we saw that the last game too. He started as a LWB and was useless and then moved into DMF and was really useful!
 
This second half performance has been absolutely unacceptable. No energy, no desire, barely created a single thing against a League One defence with a pretty strong XI fielded. Our midfield has been anonymous. And we've had so many defensive lapses that only the recovery pace of Maitland Niles has gotten us out of trouble (even though some of these occasions were because of his underhit passes).

We went from being totally in control to ending the game by hanging on.

That was a 2/10 second half display.

I don't give a damn who we're playing, I never want to see us perform like that again.

Wenger should be fuming. He won't be, though.
 
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