With 10 men down from the 24th minute (guess who was sent off) and with no healthy midfielders in the squad, the Gunners managed to survive the Enfield hell and secure a clean sheet in the Carabao Cup semi-final. Maybe it was because Arsenal and Liverpool are used to playing 0-0 games when they face each other in the cups (five so far), maybe it was because the Reds were missing their stars Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to AFCON, but who cares? The Gunners have made it and could advance to the final if they win the second leg at the Emirates. 5 – This was the fifth time that Liverpool and Arsenal have registered a 0-0 draw when facing each other in the League Cup, more than any other fixture in the competition’s history. Sparse. pic.twitter.com/iU1xXC3dul— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 13, 2022 Naturally, coach Mikel Arteta was pleased with his team’s display with all the difficulties which happened, including Granit Xhaka’s fifth red card during his Arsenal career. Gunners captain was again sent of and will now miss the North London derby with Spurs as well as the Liverpool replay in the Carabao cup. Still, he will not be the only one missing, as the Gunners have problems with healthy players. They now have 11 players missing for a variety of reasons and the squad could be as low as 12 available for Sunday when they are facing Spurs. “From our side, from the opponents’ side, because of the amount of issues everyone is having and because it is happening every week. We try to prepare games thinking we are going to play. If something happens along the way, it is what it is. We don’t have any midfielders in the squad, We played with three midfielder players, Martinelli, Lokonga and Saka who never played there in their lives” said Arteta after the game.
