Arsenal face new test as perfect winning run enters third competition
Arsenal take their perfect start into a third competition on Tuesday when they visit Ipswich Town in the EFL Cup third round.
The competition may sit below the Premier League and Champions League on Arsenal’s list of priorities, but that should not make victory at Portman Road any less important.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has overseen six wins from six competitive matches, with Saturday’s hard-earned 2-0 victory at Sunderland maintaining an immaculate beginning to the campaign.
That momentum has already survived very different examinations.
Arsenal have won comfortably, recovered from behind against Chelsea, remained patient at Napoli and most recently endured Sunderland’s physical and defensive challenge.
Tuesday should now test the depth of the squad Arteta has assembled.
The Gunners entered the EFL Cup at the third-round stage because of their involvement in European competition, and the trip to Ipswich comes only three days before another Premier League away game at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Rotation is therefore inevitable and sensible.
Viktor Gyokeres, Mikel Merino, Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke are among the senior players who could benefit from opportunities, illustrating the options available to Arteta without fielding his strongest XI.
That depth also removes many of the excuses Arsenal might otherwise have for allowing their standards to fall.
They have invested heavily in constructing a squad capable of competing across several competitions, and matches such as this are precisely where that strength should become valuable.
Ipswich will certainly not view the occasion as an inconvenience.
Gary O’Neil’s team reached this stage by beating Leicester City 3-1 and will enter Tuesday’s game encouraged by an impressive 3-2 Premier League victory away to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Zian Flemming’s 90th-minute winner completed their comeback at Selhurst Park and provided the ideal confidence boost before the champions arrive in Suffolk.
Cup football also has a habit of narrowing apparent differences in quality.
A packed Portman Road, an opponent with little to lose and an Arsenal side containing several changes could quickly produce the type of uncomfortable evening that has eliminated bigger teams from this competition before.
Arsenal should know that better than most.
Their last League Cup triumph came in 1993, and their most recent attempt ended with defeat to Manchester City in last season’s final.
Winning this trophy will never define Arsenal’s season while they defend the Premier League title and pursue the Champions League.
Maintaining a winning culture, however, matters regardless of the competition.
Arteta can rotate his players at Ipswich, but Arsenal cannot afford to rotate their standards with them.
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