Ipswich Town vs Arsenal - prediction, team news, lineups

By Ben Knapton | 13 Sep 2026 12:46, Last updated: 13 Sep 2026 13:35

Still searching for their first EFL Cup triumph since the turn of the millennium, Arsenal travel to Ipswich Town for Tuesday's third-round tussle at Portman Road.

While the Gunners received a bye to this point of the tournament, the Tractor Boys strolled past crisis club Leicester City 3-1 in their second-round showdown.

Much has been made of Arsenal's perpetual failure to conquer the Champions League, but the League Cup is just as cursed a competition for the North London giants, whose last success in the tournament came before any member of their playing squad was even alive.

Not since Paul Merson and Steve Morrow sunk Sheffield Wednesday in 1993 have Arsenal hoisted the trophy aloft, and they have been forced to settle for silver on four occasions since, most recently in last year's showpiece thanks to a Nico O'Reilly-inspired Manchester City triumph.

However, only one of Arsenal's last 11 EFL Cup runs has ended as early as the third round - their shock home loss to Brighton & Hove Albion in 2022-23 - and the reigning Premier League champions head to East Anglia with their immaculate 2026-27 record still intact.

The Gunners' sixth match of the season brought a sixth victory on Saturday night, when Bruno Guimaraes and Bukayo Saka's second-half strikes propelled Arsenal to a 2-0 Premier League win over Sunderland, although Arteta was loath to celebrate after the Black Cats were awarded an "unacceptable" penalty - which David Raya nevertheless saved spectacularly.

The Spaniard's top stop from Enzo Le Fee ensured that Arsenal would keep their fifth clean sheet from six matches this season, and success on Tuesday would see the visitors win their first seven games of a campaign - Community Shields included - for the first time since 2004-05.

While Arsenal fans are sick of the sight of second-placed EFL Cup finishes, Ipswich are yet to even reach the competition final, only advancing as far as the semi-finals on four previous occasions.

The most recent of those last-four showdowns - in the 2010-11 season - coincidentally ended in heartbreak at the hands of Arsenal, whom the Tractor Boys stunned 1-0 in the first leg before a 3-0 second-leg reverse sent them packing.

However, Ipswich have already progressed further than they did in nine of the last 10 EFL Cup campaigns thanks to their second-round slaying of Leicester, albeit one that preceded multiple-goal Premier League defeats to Manchester United and Liverpool.

Gary O'Neil's men capitalised on Crystal Palace's disciplinary mishap on Saturday, though, coming back from a goal down to prevail 3-2 in a Premier League thriller - sealed by Zian Flemming's 90th-minute winner - after Axel Disasi's straight red card in the first half.

Ipswich's 2024-25 Premier League battles against Arsenal were forgettable affairs, however, as Arteta's side followed up a 1-0 home win with a 4-0 away success, courtesy of goals from three now-absent players in Leandro Trossard (2), Gabriel Martinelli and Ethan Nwaneri.

The frustrating Arsenal right-back trend of one in, one out continued on Saturday, when Jurrien Timber was back in the squad after a long-term groin injury and was forced into action at half time due to Ben White picking up a similar issue of his own.

Arteta did not issue an update on White at full time, but the Englishman is now a serious doubt for the cup clash alongside Cristhian Mosquera (muscle), while William Saliba (back) will not return for a couple of months at least.

Timber will therefore almost certainly have to start sooner than Arteta would have liked, but the visiting boss can make numerous unenforced changes further forward, where Viktor Gyokeres, Noni Madueke, Mikel Merino and Martin Zubimendi could all come in.

As for the hosts, O'Neil allayed fears over an injury to Emersonn after the striker came off with quad tightness against Crystal Palace, and the head coach confirmed that the Brazilian would have likely been given Tuesday night off anyway.

Despite representing Burnley in the first and second round of this season's tournament, Emersonn's likely replacement Flemming is eligible to feature for Ipswich too, after the EFL changed the rules for the 2025-26 season allowing players to turn out for more than one club in the League Cup.

Emersonn is one of just three injury concerns for the hosts alongside Jack Taylor - out for a few weeks with a knee injury - and Azor Matusiwa, who is in with a chance of making the squad after a thigh issue.

Walton; O'Shea, Diop, Greaves, Davis; Palacios, Nunez; Philogene, Enciso, Maeda; Flemming

Kepa; Timber, Konsa, Gabriel, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Guimaraes; Madueke, Merino, Eze; Gyokeres

The defensive statistics make for unpleasant reading for Ipswich, who are still waiting for their first clean sheet of the season and have shipped a whopping nine goals across their last three matches.

Therefore, even a second-string Arsenal XI - which many clubs would dream of having as a first-choice starting lineup - should have no trouble firing the Gunners into the fourth round.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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