Beating Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup quarter-finals should be "right at the top" of the priority list for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta as the Gunners' Premier League title charge falters, according to expert Charles Watts.
Arteta's crop welcome the Eagles to their Emirates home on Wednesday night following consecutive top-flight draws against Fulham and Everton, which have left them third in the Premier League standings and six points behind Liverpool having played a game more.
Despite their recent scoring struggles in the top flight, Arteta's men have made light work of lower-league opposition in the EFL Cup, thrashing Bolton Wanderers 5-1 in round three before a straightforward 3-0 triumph at Preston North End in the last-16 stage.
Not since 1993 have Arsenal won the EFL Cup title, and speaking to Sports Mole, Watts has urged Arteta to go strong for Wednesday's derby with the semi-finals in touching distance, saying: "I think it should be right at the top. You're three games away from Wembley and one of those is a home game against Palace.
"I know Palace are in good form - they had a great win against Brighton - but if you're looking at a cup competition and you're home to Crystal Palace in that quarter-final, I think you've got to put that at the top of priority list. A trophy for Arsenal and for Arteta would just ease the pressure a little bit, you've just got that in the cabinet. If you can get this tucked away that could be huge for the final few months of the season.
"I absolutely think he should be fully prioritizing this. They've got a good squad, they've got a big squad, he will make changes no doubt about that, but he shouldn't be making 11 changes and playing the kids - it has to be a team that can go out there and and win against a decent Palace team in form. I want to see a strong side from Arsenal on Wednesday night.
"It's a really big opportunity for them, it's been too long since they won a trophy and this represents a really good opportunity to do that, even if it was at the start of the season the lowest of the four priorities. He's got to go all out for it on Wednesday night, pick a team that is absolutely strong enough to get this job done, and that could be the spark - getting yourself to the semi-final, winning this game in midweek could be the spark that gets everyone going again."
'EFL Cup has been cursed for Arsenal since 1993'
Watts can recall being present when Arsenal last sealed League Cup glory in 1993, when George Graham's side defeated Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 in the final before also going on to conquer the Owls in the FA Cup showpiece to complete a domestic double later that season.
Since Paul Merson and Steve Morrow last fired Arsenal to EFL Cup stardom, the Gunners have lost the 2006-07 final (to Chelsea), 2010-11 final (to Birmingham City) and 2017-18 final (to Manchester City), and their 2023-24 run ended at the hands of West Ham United in round four.
"It's been a bit cursed since that since 1993," Watts added. "There's been some horrible moments along the way, and it'd be great to actually put those to bed and get your hands on the trophy for once."
Arteta has already collected three major honours during his time as Arsenal head coach, two Community Shields and one FA Cup, although the majority of players who collected winners' medals in the latter tournament in 2019-20 are no longer on the books in North London.
From the 20 players in the matchday squad from the 2-1 win over Chelsea at an empty Wembley in the final, only Bukayo Saka and Kieran Tierney are still in Arteta's ranks, as well as Fulham loanee Reiss Nelson.
As such, Watts has implored the new-look team not to "chuck away" Wednesday's magnificent opportunity, adding: "It's not easy to win trophies. There's only four on offer at the start of the season, and when you're going up against the opposition that you do in England, it's really difficult to get your hands on silverware, so you can't just chuck away an opportunity to get it.
"When you've navigated your way into the quarter-finals, you've got a home draw in that quarter-final, it could be massive for Arteta and the squad. The FA Cup win (in 2020), none of that squad's really there; this squad is a completely new squad that's never won anything under Arteta, so having that moment at Wembley, those celebrations afterwards, knowing you can get yourself over the line, what that does to your mentality could be potentially massive for this squad. They've absolutely got they've got to attack it on Wednesday night, 100%."
Would winning EFL Cup and nothing else be a success for Arsenal?
© Imago
Arsenal are still fighting for supremacy on four fronts this season - Watts is refusing to rule out their chances of winning the Premier League title just yet - and the Gunners are also on the cusp of Champions League last-16 qualification as they occupy third place in the 36-team table.
A blockbuster FA Cup third-round clash with Manchester United is also on the menu for January 12, but even if Arsenal win the EFL Cup and nothing else this season, Watts does not believe that it would constitute a successful campaign for Arteta given Manchester City's unforeseen Premier League collapse.
"I don't know if it'd be an okay season," Watts replied. "I suppose it depends on what happens in the other competitions; if you go deep in the Champions League, if you get yourself second in the Premier League, have a good go at the FA Cup, it certainly wouldn't be what everyone wanted at the start of it, but it would ease the pressure a bit.
"But I don't think it would be deemed acceptable, and it would still be seen as a missed opportunity. I think whatever happens this season, if Arsenal don't go on and win the Premier League, this season it's going to be seen as a missed opportunity because of what's happened with Manchester City. For them to basically implode the way they have and for Arsenal not to take advantage of it, it's going to be seen as a real blow.
"Everyone at the season would have predicted if City don't win the title, Arsenal win it, so it will be a blow, but it will soften it somewhat to have that moment at Wembley moment. Some pictures of everyone with a trophy would soften it somewhat, but it wouldn't remove all the disappointment of the season. Palace have had a good little run, it's not the ideal time to play them. It's not going to be easy, so anyone expecting Arsenal just going to cruise past Palace on Wednesday night, it's just not going to happen."
Arsenal's EFL Cup quarter-final with Palace - whom they have beaten in each of their last four head-to-heads - comes just three days before they collide in the Premier League, in both teams' final top-flight fixture before Christmas.
What changes could Arsenal make for EFL Cup quarter-final?
© Imago
Even though Watts has urged Arteta to put out a strong XI capable of getting the job done, he can foresee at least three changes up the field, as Raheem Sterling, Ethan Nwaneri and the misfiring Gabriel Jesus vie to come in.
Such alterations could prove handy, as back-to-back fixtures with the same team can lead to a potential banana skin as both managers quickly become familiar with the other's tactics and tweaks.
"Sometimes it's tricky when you play the same team twice in a matter of days," Watts continued. "It's tricky because of how everyone sets up, everyone gets to know each other a bit too well, and the two games, certainly the second game, can kind of end up being a bit of a squib. So we'll see how that works out. But he will make changes, no doubt about it. We won't see the same 11 for both games.
"I don't think it'll be wholesale changes. Raheem Sterling, for example, I think he'll start, I think Nwaneri will start, probably see Gabriel Jesus start, changes like that will happen. And it might be what Arsenal need to be honest on Wednesday night, just to shake things up a little bit and give Palace something a little bit different to think about. Two tricky games, absolutely, but two games you've got to look at from an Arsenal point of view and think 'we have to be winning both of these. We cannot afford any more slip-ups in either competition.'
"Win on Wednesday, get to the Premier League, win that, and hopefully things will be feeling a little bit rosier than they are right now. And a win on Saturday, and you're one point to Chelsea and three to Liverpool, potentially temporarily because they both play on Sunday, but you're playing before them, and suddenly things don't look too bad then.
"Scoreboard pressure does strange things sometimes to teams. If you are playing first, you've got to take advantage of that. You can put your feet up after that and see what happens for the rest of the weekend. Get your points on the board early and see if the pressure can hold on those two teams the following day."
Palace have already sent Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers and Aston Villa packing in this season's EFL Cup, and Sunday's 3-1 win over M23 derby rivals Brighton & Hove Albion made it five games unbeaten for Wednesday's visitors.
Ben Knapton
